Annie Walton Doyle
A flight attendant has revealed the ‘punishment’ she hands out to people who refuse to swap seats with a child.
As a parent, boarding a plane with a child can be a difficult and stressful task.
It can be even worse if you’re not sat with your child, or your family is split up across multiple seats.
While you could ask to swap places to ensure that you are all together, not everyone is happy to do so.
And now, a flight attendant has confirmed that she dishes out an unusual ‘punishment’ for those who are not willing to swap seats with a child.
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People have been left shocked by the flight attendant’s admission.
One person says: “You want to sit together as a family – book your tickets that way! It’s not rocket science really!!!”
Another remarks: “They should plan their trip more carefully then so they are sitting together.”
While a third writes: “Outrageous, the parents should pre-book the seats, not expect others to move.”
Making the decision to either swap or not swap your seats to allow a family to sit together has long been a contentious issue online.
Influencer Audrey Peters, who boasts over 960,000 followers on TikTok, recently went viral after posting a video saying she would refuse to give up her seat on a flight for a family.
The short clip, which has hundreds of thousands of likes, features her sipping a glass of champagne with the text reading: “When a family asks me to switch seats on a plane so they can sit together.”
It’s captioned: “No I’m not switching for a middle seat, book your flights earlier babes.”
The background audio features a soundbite from the film The Reading, where one of the characters says: “Girl, f*** them kids, and f*** you too.”
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Viewers came to the influencer’s defence, saying they would do the same if they were put in the situation.
One person wrote: “I’m so sick of people thinking it’s OK to disrupt someone for their lack of planning.”
Another added: “They literally pass the option to chose their seats when buying their tickets… so no.”
However, it looks as though Peters’ stance isn’t so popular with flight attendants, as now, one has spoken out about the ‘punishment’ she gives to those who refuse to switch seats for children.
Orlando flight attendant Mitra Amirzadeh has opened up to The Wall Street Journal about her experiences on the job.
She says around 80 per cent of her trips are filled with seat-swappers, but she doesn’t necessarily think adults should be afforded the privilege.
Amirzadeh points out: “The next time you feel yourself getting angry or getting frustrated that you’re not getting the seat you want, you need to remind yourself that you didn’t pay to pick your seat. Otherwise, you’d be in it.”
But if a person is refusing to swap seats with a child, Amirzadeh is not so calm.
In fact, she admits she has a particular ‘punishment’ for those who refuse to swap seats with a child.
The flight attendant explains: “I have said before, ‘OK, so you’re going to watch the toddler?'”
She also tells them: “You’ll want their snacks and their colouring books then because they’re going to need that.”
By making those who refuse to swap seats into effective babysitters for the flight, Amirzadeh hopes to discourage them from refusing to swap again.
However, not everyone is happy with her method.
One writes: “I would just say ‘No, that’s not going to happen’ and put my headphones on and ignore the flight attendant and the child.”
Another agrees: “Imagine paying for a flight and the attendant says you’re now a babysitter. Yeah, that doesn’t work for me. Noise-cancelling headphones for sure.”
While a third pens: “Not my child, not my liability. What if something happens to the kid when I’m supposed to be looking after them? No thanks. The responsibility squarely rests with the parent and airline. You can’t just fob this kind of responsibility onto some random person.”
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