Another Attempt At A Free Upgrade Shot Down
I boarded a full flight, took my seat, and waited for takeoff. A woman was standing in the aisle holding her child — maybe five years old — in her arms, looking distressed.
Woman: “How can we not be seated together? I have to be with my baby!”
Attendant: “Okay, where are your seats?”
Woman: *Pointing* “Mine is this window and hers is the middle behind me.”
Attendant: “Okay.”
She addresses the older woman sitting in the middle seat in the same row as the distressed mother.
Attendant: “Miss, would you be willing to switch seats with the child behind you so she can sit with her mother?”
Woman: “No, that’s my mother. She’s elderly; she can’t be moved.”
Attendant: “Okay.”
Now she addresses the woman sitting in the window seat beside the child.
Attendant: “Miss, would you be willing to switch seats with the child behind you so she can sit with her mother?”
Woman: “That’s my sister! What is wrong with you?”
She points to the six seats taking up two rows.
Woman: “This is my family.”
Attendant: “So… you’re all together.”
Woman: “Yes! But I’m supposed to be sitting with my daughter.”
Attendant: “Well, if they’re all your family, perhaps one of them can switch with one of you so—”
Woman: “No! I will not make my family move!”
Attendant: *Throwing her hands in the air* “Well, I don’t know what to tell you, ma’am. You can sit with your family, and your daughter can be with her aunt, or—”
Woman: “You are useless!“
Attendant: “I am about to have you removed from this flight.”
Woman: *Quietly* “Please don’t.”
Attendant: “Your daughter is sitting with family. If you don’t want to trade or have someone trade with you, there is nothing I can do.”
The woman scooted into her window seat, her daughter sitting in the middle behind her. I’ve thought about this moment off and on for years and still cannot determine what she wanted the attendant to do.
