This Passenger Demanded a Window, and a Flight Attendant Had the Best Response Ever

Nov. 13, 2018

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3 min read

This Passenger Demanded a Window, and a Flight Attendant Had the Best Response Ever

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In yet another (albeit relatively mild) case of travelers behaving badly on planes, a passenger on a flight in Japan demanded a window seat — and received a stunning response from a flight attendant.

According to a local Tokyo-based news site, Sora News 24, the unidentified man, who was seated in a window seat without a window, blurted out, "Give me a window seat!" at the flight attendant who came around with the beverage cart.

Maybe not the best way to get what he wanted.

Rather than acquiesce to the passenger's rather rude attempt at requesting a different seat — or perhaps because he or she was simply unable to accommodate the seat change — the flight attendant walked away, and came back with a drawing of a window with a view of the sea and some clouds. The flight attendant taped the rather crude, hand-drawn window to the empty wall next to the passenger.

The episode went viral on Twitter when fellow passenger @kooo_TmS_suke posted a photo of the crew member's drawing. It's since gotten more than 15,000 likes and nearly 7,900 retweets. Sora News 24 reported that people have been praising the flight attendant with comments such as, "That's really clever," and "Great thinking by the attendant."

Though most window seats do, as they suggest, come with a window, it's not unheard of for cabins to have interior seats that don't line up with a window. If this passenger had cross-checked his seat assignment with SeatGuru before flying, he wouldn't have been surprised by the lovely view of the aircraft wall.

And perhaps if this passenger had read TPG's Travel Etiquette column, he would have changed his tone and gotten a different response. Such as an actual window, with a real view.

"No matter if you are the swapper or the swappee, confidence and a little compassion are key to getting or keeping a good seat assignment," Cynthia Dressler wrote in a TPG article about the etiquette of swapping seats on planes.

So the next time you're hoping to get a coveted seat, be careful not to come off as demanding and entitled, or you could find yourself the subject of the next viral tweet.