Petty Karma Is Still Satisfying

My new wife and I recently took a trip to Denver on a plane. I fly often, but not as often as some other people. When I booked the flight, the plane was fairly empty, so I booked the window and aisle seats in the premium economy section right behind first-class seats, leaving the middle seat empty. By the time we actually flew, the flight was nearly full, so I checked the seat chart and noticed someone took the seat between us. No biggie, when we got on the flight, we would just offer the window or aisle seat to whoever booked the middle seat.

Boarding time came and we were in group two, so the pre-boards and group one got to go before us. When it was our turn to board and we got to our seats, there was an older man seating in the window seat. I thought it was kind of a rude move to just take someone else’s seat without asking. Obviously, this guy had flown before since he had pre-boarding status. I let it go since we were going to switch seats anyway.

Soon after the flight took off, the attendant came up to me with a gift bag.

Attendant: “Congratulations on achieving 1K status!”

The gift bag wasn’t for me; it was for the guy that took the window seat without asking. He obviously knew what he was doing and has probably done this before. The guy was looking out the window all through boarding and never turned his head to acknowledge us until the flight attendant came over with the gift bag.

I accepted his gift bag.

Attendant: “Would you like a complimentary drink, as well?”

Of course, I said yes, and I even got a free glass of wine for my wife, too. I glanced at the guy and could see the anger in his eyes. But he didn’t say a thing. A petty win for me over this guy that took the seat that I would have given him, but instead he took it without asking.