'Well played, Petty Crocker': Passenger keeps getting up mid-flight and pulling on back of person's seat every time, cue petty revenge

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Mar 30, 2023 2:00 PM EDT

We all know that person who reclines too much or uses your seat as "leverage" when they are taking the 15th bathroom trip on the flight. Well, finally, we have a solution for how to deal with this person, thanks to the guidance of u/ColdHardPocketChange, who shared their story on Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit. 

 

Every time this happens to the Redditor, which clearly is a frequent occurrence, they wait for the passenger to return from their bathroom trip. When they finally return, the Redditor ensures that their seat recliner is fully pressed in. That way, when the passenger sits down, there's absolutely none of the resistance they were expecting. According to the original poster, hearing that surprise gasp from the passenger is one of the many joys of flying for them these days. It's definitely petty, but you know what? It's petty but it's earned. Keep scrolling below for the full post. For more stories like this, here's one about a job applicant's rejection email.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    Aircraft - "My seat is not meant to be your support"
    via Gary Lopater
  • 02
    Font - My seat is not meant to to be your support I was originally writing this as a comment for another post, but then I remembered this lovely sub exists and I thought I would share with you all. I find myself taking this petty revenge quite frequently, and the whole situation could be avoided if the people involved were slightly more courteous or had respect for those around them. For those of you who fly frequently, this may be an all too familiar situation.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 03
    Font - Now this usually happens when the person behind you or someone in their row needs to use the bathroom midflight. People have started using the back of my seat as a method to pull themselves up out of their chair as oppose to using their own arm rests. They usually pull the seat back 3-4 inches due to their leverage and let it go once they are standing. If you're the one in the chair in front of them, this provides you with the sudden unpleasant feeling of your chair unexpectedly rocketing
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 04
    Font - When this happens to me now, I bide my time, waiting for the persons return. Upon their return but before they sit, I make sure the button that reclines the seat is fully pressed in. The person generally expects the seat is going to provide that same resistance they used to get out of their seat in the first place. Sorry friend, that resistance is gone. Hearing that sweet shocked gasp as fall hard into their seat has been one of the new pleasure I've found in flying.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 05
    Font - 4linosa 10 hr. ago This is probably the PUREST petty revenge ever. Locked and loaded for my next business trip. 844 Reply Share
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 06
    Font - EntireKangaroo148. 29 min. ago To be fair, using the seat in front of me as leverage to get up is how I get revenge on holes who recline.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 07
    Font - CoderJoe1 11 hr. ago +4. OMG, I've been travelling all over the US for work for the last twenty years and have been doing this. It's best when you can hear them behind you talking about getting up again so they get the full yank-back experience they weren't expecting. 379 Reply Share
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 08
    Organism - IMAGINARIAN_photos 9 hr. ago Well played, Petty Crocker, well played! 272 ♡ Reply Share
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 09
    Font - lalauna +3.4 hr. ago I like this. Thanks! The ones who grab a handful of my hair on the way are especially the ones I'd do this to. 135 Reply Share
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 10
    Font - lalafia1 5 hr. ago I absolutely use the seat in front of me to pull myself up, due to injury and permanent disability. I also absolutely do it only when disembarking, after, the person in the seat has already left. I've never taken a long enough flight (yet) that requires me to use the toilet on the plane, and I make sure to use the bathroom before I board. When I finally do have to do it with a person in the seat, I will be apologizing for the inconvenience.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 11
    Font - z-eldapin 2 hr. ago +2. I always try to book an aisle seat for this same reason. If I am unlucky enough to have a middle or window seat, there is no way on earth the arm rests are going to leverage me up. My knees just don't work that way anymore.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 12
    Font - I try to be really respectful, but yeah, I do have to use the seat in front of me to get up. Maybe airlines could stop squishing everyone in like sardines and I could scooch in my seat enough to use my own seat/seatback to get myself to a standing position.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 13
    Font - ZeroPenguinParty +2. 6 hr. ago It's only happened twice in all of my years of air travel, or for that matter bus or train travel, that I have ever had to use the headrest of the seat in front of me to help get up to do something. The first time, I had a back injury at the time, and reaching up to pull myself up was less excruciating pain than put pressure on the armrests. The other time, I was sitting in a seat with broken armrests. But even then, both time I apologised to the person sitt
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 14
    Font - Limburger52 3 hr. ago We are flying from Amsterdam to Sydney via Hong Kong tomorrow. This will come in very handy so thank you!
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 15
    Font - AJRimmer1971 +1. 4 hr. ago I love doing this, especially on long haul flights. You really get to see people change their behaviour, with multiple toilet trips.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 16
    Font - LeWitchy 1 hr. ago · edited 1 hr. ago I was once in an exit row on a trans-atlantic flight. The seat in front of me kept dropping their seat in my lap. Literally as far back as their seat could go, they put it. I ended up dropping something and had to get out of my seat to grab it, and what do you know, the seat in front of me dropped... right onto the back of my head. I turned and shoved the seat back up, grabbed what I dropped, then sat like a child, curled up, with my knees in the back
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 17
    Font - After a few minutes they turned and said all snotty like, "can you move your legs?" I tried to match their tone and said something like, "I dont know, can you STAY OUT OF MY LAP??" I didn't have a problem with them the rest of the flight.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange
  • 18
    Font - eta: For those who don't know, an exit row is slightly wider than a regular row and is in line with the exits from the airplane. There's a few inches more leg room, but if there's an emergency you're supposed to help other people off the plane. At least that was the rules 20 or so years ago.
    via u/ColdHardPocketChange

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

revenge flight plane petty revenge reddit thread Reddit funny airplane
Scroll Down For The Next Article