Traveling with children can be stressful. There are certain steps one can take to make it less so, including making sure to either pay or communicate with the gate agent that you want to sit with your children. It is not fair to assume that a stranger will just switch seats with you.
Tammy Nelson found herself between a rock and a hard place. She wanted to help a fellow mom out, but also needed to get sleep on the flight. Tammy did not appreciate how this mom just took her seat without asking and then proceeded to complain when Tammy did not kowtow to her request. She posted her experience on TikTok.
Tammy was traveling from Cincinnati, Ohio, to San Jose, California. The mom in question first took her seat without asking Tammy’s consent. "I double-checked my boarding pass thinking I may have had the wrong row," Tammy explained to Newsweek. "When I confirmed I was looking at the correct seat, I thought she must have just mistakenly sat in the wrong seat. So I said, 'I'm sorry but it seems you're in my seat,' thinking she would realize it and move."
The mom appeared shocked Tammy called her out for sitting in her seat. "Oh — you want to sit here?" she asked Tammy. "I was pretty surprised at the question but replied simply saying, 'Yes, that's the seat I selected,'" Tammy replied.
More from LittleThings: This Family Of 5 Traveled To 41 Countries in One Year And Is Sharing All Their Travel Tips
The mom pointed out her two kids, who were 11 and 15 years old. She told Tammy, "Oh well I just thought we could switch since these are my kids." Tammy did not love the idea but wanted to help out a fellow mom so she agreed “as long as it's a window seat."
Turns out it was not. The seat Tammy would have had to switch to was the dreaded middle seat. Tammy does not fly well and chose a window seat for that reason.
"I get motion sickness during takeoff and landing if I can't see out the window," she explained. "I also don't get a lot of sleep. I often try to get a little sleep on planes which is easiest with a window seat. On that particular day, I only had 90 minutes of sleep the night before. And I was headed into a high-pressure work week where I would be presenting to 500 people and really needed to be at my very best so getting a little sleep on that flight was extra-important."
This mom was not pleased but did eventually move back to her seat. She did make sure to loudly complain to a fellow passenger but even they were not having it. "The person she was complaining to very nicely said she could understand why she would want to sit together but added that, when in that situation, she always planned ahead to ensure her family was together by talking with the airline in advance or talking to the gate agent," Tammy recalled. Good advice indeed.
Tammy’s TikTok quickly went viral with over 1.5 million views. Her fellow TikTokers shared their support in the comments.
"The amount of families who aren't paying to select their seats together is mind blowing! You were 100 percent right to not give up your seat,” wrote one user.
"I have kids and would never just assume,” chimed in another. "The audacity of some people."
Tammy has words of wisdom for anyone in a similar situation. "Be kind and consider the request, but also to go with your gut and feel confident in standing your ground," she advised. "One person's lack of planning doesn't need to be an inconvenience to you."
