Everyone has had their fair share of horrible flight experiences. Whether it’s canceled flight, turbulence, babies crying, or rude passengers, everyone has their story. A couple months ago a teenaged boy, we will call him Alex, went through a rude passenger experience on his long travel day and shared his experience on Reddit. This experience was not typical to what others talk about when they talk about rude passengers on a flight.
He flew Southwest from Baltimore to Pittsburg, then Pittsburg to Las Vegas, then Las Vegas to Boise in order to visit his grandma. It was on these travels that he experienced his own personal nightmare.
When Alex first boarded in Baltimore, he was allowed to choose his perfect seat in the back of the plane. His perfect seat was interrupted by a pregnant woman and her husband. At first he did not think too much of it, because they looked like a nice enough couple and he figured he could ask them to move over so he could have his seat back. Little did he know this tiny request would have large repercussions.
When Alex got back to his seat, he noticed that there was a pregnant lady sitting in his seat, and her husband sitting in the aisle seat, while his jacket was thrown on the ground in the aisle and his backpack, which held his laptop, was underneath it. He could not believe how rude this was, and really questioned why they did it.
Of course Alex was annoyed and he pointed out that he was previously sitting in the window seat and he wanted to know if he could have his seat back.
The pregnant lady responded aggressively by saying, “Can’t you see that I am pregnant and need this seat?” Alex was shocked by this answer, and he did not really know what to say to it.
Then Alex asked the husband if he could please scoot over and sit next to his wife, he responded with, “Sorry, but we are allowed to choose our own seats and I chose the aisle seat.” Being a high school senior, Alex wasn’t that big of a guy, but he was still not happy to be sitting in the center seat. But Alex realized that he was not going to win this argument so he collected his stuff and moved to the center seat.
But the next thing the pregnant lady said threw Alex over the edge and made him realize just how long this flight was going to be.
Once Alex sat down, the lady said to him, “You can’t have your backpack under your seat, you’re going to have to find a place to put it.”
Alex, very confused, responded with, “I’m just going to put it under my seat”.
“Where am I going to put my feet, then?” she demanded.
Alex’s blood was boiling. He was already sitting in the center seat and now he had to give up the area under his seat?
“I don’t know, not under my effing seat,” said Alex.
Suddenly he feels someone grab his collar. The husband pulled him inches from his face and said, “Don’t use that language to my wife or the baby, you will say you’re sorry.”
Of course Alex was shocked, he had never been grabbed like that before and did not know what to say or how to react. He started thinking, not only was this guy grabbing him in public, but at the time he was only 17, and still considered a minor. So he knew he could use that as an advantage.
But not wanting to make a deal out of this, he gave the most insincere, “I’m sorry,” to the woman and put his earbuds in as the flight was getting ready to take off.
While taxiing down the runway, the lady kept trying to get his attention by yelling in his ear and snapping her fingers inches in front of his face, before she finally pulled his earbuds out.
Alex screamed, “WHAT!”
She told him that he needed to take off his earbuds and turn off all electronics before take off.
The thing the lady did not know was that Alex’s dad is a pilot and he has confirmed that electronics don’t interfere with communications, it’s mostly a formality so that people pay attention to the emergency instructions.
So Alex was very annoyed at this point.
Naturally, since he knows this information, he ignores her. She did not like that Alex was ignoring her and in rage, she spams the flight attendant button so that one comes over in a panic wondering what was wrong.
This led to take off being delayed because no one could be standing up when they first enter the air.
The flight attendant runs over and ask what was wrong expecting an emergency and she learns that the lady is really just a tattle tale. The lady told the flight attendant, “He won’t turn off his electronics before flight. He is trying to kill us!”
Alex realizes everyone is staring at them all, because the flight is now delayed. So, when the flight attendant asks him to turn it off, he obliges. He just wanted this nonsense to end.
But of course, after he turns it off, the lady begins to lecture him about how she was right and he was wrong. Alex just sighs and waits for the moment he can turn his phone back on and listen to music, but he knew in the back of his head, knowing this couple, there were probably more annoyances coming.
When the flight made it to cruising altitude, Alex waited the appropriate amount of time and then turns his music back on, but about 5 minutes into the flight, he feels an aggravated tapping on his shoulder. He of course knew it who it was, but he did not want to face whatever she was complaining about now. But eventually he reluctantly turned and looked at the woman.
She told him in an aggressive tone, “You need to turn that down, it is bad for the baby.”
Alex admitted he was listening to music louder than normal, but it still wasn’t to the point that an unborn baby would be able to hear it, let alone be able to understand it.
Shocked with how absurd the lady is being, he told her no he can’t turn down the music. But, of course the lovely lady reaches for the flight attendant button, and that led Alex to say that he would turn the music down. He didn’t want to have to deal with her incessant chatter anymore.
But he was sneaky and did a trick where he turned the volume down 2 times and then up once so that it looks like you turned it down 3 times. A little, secret revenge.
He asked if it was better but she was not satisfied and rudely demanded, “More!” Before he could put his earbuds in, she said to him, “It is proper etiquette to talk to people you’re sitting next to.” Alex was at the point where he had to ignore her or else he would say something that he would regret later on.
At that moment, Alex just wanted to relax so he sits back and tries to fall asleep, and he ended up being able to for about an hour in the course of his 5 hour flight.
But he was woken up when this woman set her foot on his backpack, which had his laptop in it, so he adjusted his foot so that it would be uncomfortable for her to continue to keep her feet the way they were. She immediately stood up and Alex thought he had just woken up the beast and she was going to yell, given her ability to overreact. But it turned out she was just getting up to go to the bathroom.
And as she walked away, a brilliant idea popped in Alex’s head.
The second the pregnant lady stepped into the bathroom, Alex gets ready to get up and move his stuff over to the window seat. As he grabbed his backpack and shifts his momentum over he felt a hand grab him. That is when he realized he forgot about the husband catching him and messing up his plan.
“You are not taking my wife’s seat,” the husband growled at Alex. He had a solid stare in his eye that told Alex that he meant business.
What Alex said next was so clever, the husband did not have a response.
He said, “Sir, I have to warn you that you are grabbing a minor and if I feel like it at any second, I could cry you that you are attacking me, or you have made disgusting advances on me.” This convinced the husband to let him go and he moved over to the seat he had before.
When the pregnant lady got back, she was furious, demanding that Alex move seats now to the point that the flight attendant came over to see what was going on.
And this time the flight attendant sides with Alex. When the pregnant woman asked her husband to make Alex move, he looked the man dead in the eyes, practically daring him to do something. The husband goes back to reading his book. And she sits in the middle seat, very angry.
Alex sat with a satisfied look on his face. But this petty revenge didn’t hold a candle to the ultimate revenge he took against this couple who just wouldn’t leave him in peace.
Alex was very happy he moved seats because, probably due to her advanced stage of pregnancy, she was up and down in her seat having to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.
And that was pretty much how the rest of the flight went. It was uneventful, except for when she intercepted Alex’s bag of pretzels when the drink cart came. He responded by closing the shade to the window as they began to land at the Las Vegas airport.
It was very back and forth between the two, but Alex thought he was finished with pettiness when he got off the flight and would never have to see the couple again, but he was wrong.
Once off the plane, he went to Burger King to get a drink and some food, then he made it to his final flight gate, and secured the last seat in the sitting area. He scarfed down his fries and burger then walked across the hall to throw it away, just 10 feet from his seat, and when he turned to go back to his seat, he was shocked to see the same pregnant lady now in the seat he’d had his bag in. She’d moved it to the floor right in front of her, then looked at him with the look of victory and a smug smile. Somewhat defeated by losing two seats to this lady, losing sleep and his patience, he decided it was time for action.
That’s when Alex had his a second brilliant idea.
He walked over to her to gather his things and once he got to her, he looked her dead in the eyes, raised his right hand out, fingers spread, and hovered it right over her bulging stomach. He briefly looked down at his hand then back to her eyes, and said:
“I just cursed your baby.”
He kept a straight face and turned around 180 degrees and walked across the hall to sit down on the floor. He starred at her intensely. Alex does not believe in curses and he does not think he has the ability to cast a curse, but he knew this lady believed it. Her face was left expressionless and she just started weeping to herself as he sat and watched.
The pregnant woman crying sparked concern with her husband. He came over to see what was wrong and she told him about the “curse” that Alex had cast on their baby. He instantly stormed over to Alex, knocked the drink out of his hand, then grabbed him by the collar and got right in his face. “Listen here, you little jerk,” was all the man got a chance to get out before security guards grabbed and detained him, leaving Alex a bit shaken, but unharmed. Security asked Alex if he is ok after the attack.
But the guards were confused as to what was going on and they turned to Alex for answers.
The guards started questioning Alex and asking him why the guy was so angry. Alex said that the man’s wife had taken his seat, and that he made a comment under his breath and the man got upset with him.
The officer asked for his information and when he saw that Alex was a minor, the officer asked if Alex wanted to press charges.
Alex thought about for a minute and then thought, “Why not,” and he told him yes. The guard said he understood and let Alex go so he did not miss his flight, then informed the Southwest airline gate attendant to please keep track of Alex in case they needed more information for pressing charges.
This meant that Alex got to get on the plane early and he chose the first seat he could. He also chose the aisle seat to see if this lady and her husband would get on the plane, too. Since she was sitting in the same gate, he figured they would be on the same flight.
As time was passing, Alex began to think that the nightmare couple might not get on the plane, and he was right.
They never got on the plane, and it takes off without them, heading for Boise. Half way through the flight, the flight attendant asked him if he really put a curse on the baby and he responded with, “I don’t actually know magic.”
Then the flight attendant tells him that, unfortunately, he would not be able to press charges on them due to being a minor, but that the couple missed their flight and they would have to buy a new ticket to their final destination with another airline. With 5 words, Alex cost this horrible woman and her abusive husband around $500.
Alex ended his journey with a victory and never looked back. He had a very relaxing nice flight to Boise and also a good laugh. He wonders what the lady is thinking now after that flight, because he never heard from that couple again. He will always be satisfied with his successful revenge.
But was Alex right to do what he did or was he just traumatizing a poor, pregnant woman? Or did he take it a step too far?
