An airplane passenger became annoyed with an “entitled” kid on her flight, so she whipped out her camera and went to war with the child. With the confrontation captured on video, a debate ensued among viewers as the footage went viral. The only question is, whose side are you on?
A plane passenger, known as @vmaymah on TikTok, garnered a lot of attention with a clip that she posted to the social media platform after becoming annoyed with an “entitled” child on the flight. Not about to be “shaded” by the kid, @vmaymah had no problem going to war with the small child with her camera rolling to capture both the so-called brat’s behavior and the confrontation that ensued.
So, what was the problem? As explained in the footage captured by TikTok user @vmaymah, she became irked by the child seated in front of her on an unidentified flight because the kid dared to lay hands on her window shade. “It’s my window,” @vmaymah captioned the clip, showing a small hand brazenly reaching back to pull down the blind, which was open so the female passenger could enjoy the view.
“POV: the kid infront [sic] of me thinks he can close MY window shade” reads a text overlay on the screen as we see @vmaymah reraising the blind. Undeterred or perhaps thinking it’s a game, the child reaches back again to shut the shade, but as the blind reaches the halfway point, @vmaymah stops the child’s effort midclosure, blocking the kid from shutting her shade.
The determined little hand reaches for the blind again, but suddenly stops, and the tiny hand disappears from the crack after seemingly realizing that he was being intentionally stopped by the adult hand holding onto the blind. After waiting to ensure the kid was done, the female passenger raises the shade again, appearing to have finally won the airplane window war.
https://www.tiktok.com/@vmaymah/video/7336561637261970720
The clip quickly amassed millions of views as it sparked a raging debate over who should be allowed to control the shade, the NY Post reported. According to the outlet, many commented to applaud @vmaymah for “defending her vista,” such as one fan who wrote, “I LOVE the direct confrontation,” and another who questioned, “Why is his hand all the way back there.”
Many found the child’s behavior especially bratty since he had “his own window.” However, there were also those who took the child’s side, mostly because he was just a child. “He’s a child,” one sympathizer argued, adding, “he probably just wants to sleep.” Others agreed with the boy, saying they also couldn’t stand “when people have the window open all flight.”
At least one person suggested that the window might actually be the child’s to control “despite it clearly being located next to the poster’s seat,” according to the Post. However, the outlet then admits that “the incident does illustrate the awkwardness of having a window that seems to straddle two areas.”
So, what do the pros say about who gets to dictate the blind’s position? “Whoever is sitting next to [the window] gets to control it,” flight attendant Kelly Kincaid told travel blog The Points Guy in an article addressing the ongoing travel etiquette debate. However, she did caution, “If you’re seated in the exit row, some airlines may have a different policy and it could be that the flight attendant has the final say,” before suggesting that passengers should “check with your airline before you fly” since different airlines may have varying policies.
“Speaking for my own airline, the only time the window shades need to be completely open is if we’re prepping for an emergency landing,” Kincaid explained. “But only the emergency-exit row shades need to be open for this type of scenario. [Other] airlines require exit-row passengers to keep the shade up before takeoff or landing.”
Perhaps the most important takeaway was Kincaid’s conclusion: “Passengers need be flexible with different policies at different airlines.” And there’s nothing wrong with extending that flexibility to other passengers as well. While the window seater is under no obligation to do so, they can certainly take into consideration the comfort of other passengers in making the decision whether or not to draw the blind.
Like many things in life, the “rules” aren’t as open and shut as one would think—pun intended. Yes, @vmaymah had every right to enjoy the view after purchasing a window seat for her flight. However, the child might have had a legitimate reason to want it closed. Maybe it was causing a glare or he was trying to nap. Without a conversation, no one knows whether the open window is negatively impacting the kid. But, should @vmaymah even care?
While that’s up to each person to decide, I’d personally rather adjust the shade than potentially cause a child distress that may result in crying, which would ruin my flight faster than a closed window blind. At a minimum, I’d ask the kid if something was wrong and use the incident as a learning opportunity for the boy if possible. So, for me, the bottom line is this: If we can all just be good, fair, and considerate to one another, we’d all enjoy life’s adventures a little bit more.
