‘The entitlement of people with kids baffles me’: Woman settles into her first-class seat on flight. Then a mom approaches her

Remember when flying used to be fun? Once upon a time, air travel didn’t feel like a game of Russian roulette. Planes were more spacious, tickets seemed to be priced more reasonably, and you could even have a medical emergency mid-flight without fear of being recorded by strangers. Alas, those days have long gone, as it seems we’ve all collectively lost the plot.

Enter TikToker @tgcf461. She went viral for her commentary on a woman documenting the truly unhinged behavior of a fellow airplane passenger. @tgcf461, whose account is populated by her distinctive “floating head”-style commentary, called out the behavior of the entitled passenger. Since being posted on Oct. 20, @tgcf461’s video has hit 1.9 million views.

The video sparked discussion about airline etiquette, along with how some parents treat those who choose not to have children. Here’s how it all went down.

Would you give up first class for a stranger?

@tgcf461 starts out strong, saying, “I swear, some parents have absolutely lost their marbles.”

@tgcf461 overlays herself over the video of a woman recording herself in her seat on a flight. The overlay text reads, “POV: Flight agent asks me if I want to give up my 1A seat so a child sits with her family.”

@tgcf461 details that the woman in the video experienced a mother asking for a pretty bold favor. According to @tgcf461, this mother asked the woman to “give up her first-class seat on a plane so that she could sit next to her child in first class—because, when she booked their tickets, she only booked one ticket for first class: Her own.”

“And her literal plan was to then go up and down to each seat, to each aisle in first class, and solicit and beg other passengers to give up their first class seat for her child,” @tgcf461 explains. “Because she didn’t feel like paying for a seat for her own child, on her own.”

It seems this mother thought she could save herself a few bucks (or more) by relying on the goodwill of strangers willing to sacrifice their comfort for a child. It’s almost a power move—but not one that @tgcf461 is particularly thrilled about.

“[Expletive]. That,” @tgcf461 says. “Do y’all know how expensive first class—even business class seats—are in certain airlines?”

@tgcf461 then goes on to clarify it’s not just about the price of the seats. Rather, it’s about the principle of the thing.

“And just so we’re clear, even if they were just like in like economy, there would have been zero obligation to give up your seat,” @tgcf461 says. “I most likely would not have.”

A first-class parenting hack? Probably not

The discussion then turns to parenting and what flight etiquette looks like for parents who are flying alongside their children. 

“The absolute nerve to not only not purchase a seat for your own child, but then for your plan to be to guilt other passengers into giving their seats up—once again, out of their minds,” @tgcf461 says. “Outside their minds. And then the mom tried to make the lady who wouldn’t give up her seat the bad guy.

Other commenters agreed that this was unhinged behavior on the mother’s part. One person even observed that this seems less like a “looking out for my kid” situation and more like a devious scheme to simply snag first-class tickets at a discount.

“The mum can give up her first class seat to sit with her child in the economy,” this commenter pointed out. “The economy passengers will be willing to give up the seat! If mum’s priority was child, yeah that’s the solution.”

“Ehm if she really wanna sit with her child she can go to economy,” another commenter agreed.

@tgcf461 How about… YOU PURCHASE YOUR KID A SEAT! #girlwiththelist #entitledparents #flyinghorrorstories ♬ original sound – Tgcf46

Parents on flights: What not to do

This is not the first time unwitting passengers have been at the nexus of this kind of drama, where they’ve been asked to give up their seats for someone else’s child. One woman went viral for refusing to give her seat away to a crying child; she ended up suing both the airline and the passenger who recorded her.

@tgcf461’s video also resulted in some commenters echoing a common childfree sentiment: Namely, that some parents can act “entitled” toward those who do not have children.

“The entitlement of people with kids baffles me,” said one commenter.

“So many people think we owe them just because they have kids,” wrote another. “We don’t. Simple as that.”

The Mary Sue has reached out to @tgcf461 for comment via TikTok comment.

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