Woman tries to ignore seatmate’s unusual comments. Then learns why she and another plane passenger were quietly moved to the front: ‘So weird’
Sometimes the person who says nothing notices the most
An uncomfortable seatmate can make even a short flight feel much longer. Sometimes, ignoring them seems like the easiest way to get through it.
That did not work for one woman. Even after she put in her AirPods and focused on her phone, the awkward comments allegedly kept coming.
Steph Bohrer (@stephbohrer) shared the experience in a TikTok after flying from Charleston, South Carolina, to Portland, Maine. When she reached her window seat, the man in the middle allegedly patted his lap and told her to “come on over” instead of getting up to let her pass.
It was getting harder to ignore
At first, Bohrer thought he was making a strange joke and would eventually move. Instead, she claims he stayed buckled in and asked if she was “coming over.” When she told him there was not enough room, he allegedly insisted she could fit.
Bohrer finally asked him to get up. Once she reached her seat, however, the interaction continued. The man allegedly began talking to Bohrer and the woman sitting on his other side, loudly calling himself “the luckiest guy on this plane” because he was between the two women.
Bohrer tried to ignore him by keeping her AirPods in and looking at her phone. He allegedly criticized her for texting instead of talking to the people around her. Being stuck beside someone who keeps making you uncomfortable is difficult enough when there is nowhere else to go.
The man reportedly kept asking questions, including how old the women were and whether they were traveling alone. The other passenger told him she was 17. She later admitted to Bohrer that she had lied about her age because she wanted him to stop talking to her.
Bohrer was preparing herself to deal with the situation for the entire two-hour flight when a flight attendant suddenly approached their row. “You and you,” she recalled him telling the women before asking them to gather their belongings and follow him.
Bohrer initially had no idea what was happening. As she tried to leave, she claims the middle-seat passenger once again did not immediately get up. A flight attendant said something to him, and he eventually moved. The man then allegedly started asking why the women were being “upgraded” and whether he had done something wrong.
That was when Bohrer learned someone else had been paying attention. A man sitting in the row behind them had reportedly noticed the interaction and alerted the flight crew. He was the same passenger Bohrer had made eye contact with when her seatmate first told her to come across his lap.
Neither Bohrer nor the other woman had reported the situation themselves. Sometimes another passenger witnessing what happened can make all the difference.
The crew moved Bohrer and the other woman to their own row toward the front of the plane. As soon as they sat down, Bohrer recalled the woman grabbing her hand as they agreed the whole situation was “so weird.”
The discomfort did not completely disappear after landing. The women reportedly hurried through the airport because they did not want the man to catch up with them.
Then, four days later, Bohrer returned to the airport and spotted the same passenger at her gate. She worried during boarding that she could end up beside him again. Fortunately, she did not.
Viewers praised the passenger who had spoken to the flight crew. “Men holding other men accountable is so healing!” one person commented. “The proper response is ‘sir, don’t be gross, get up and move,’” another wrote.
Flight attendants also encouraged passengers to tell crew members when they feel uncomfortable. “As a flight attendant, PLEASE come get me lol. My time to shine,” one person commented.
Bohrer was ultimately grateful someone else had noticed what was happening. She admitted that neither she nor the other woman had thought to report the man themselves. “Thank god he said something,” she said.
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