Justice is served when a flight attendant stands up for a 19-year-old traveler getting accosted by a spatially-selfish Karen on the flight: ‘This is how the aircraft is built, look around'

Karens think that the whole world revolves around them, but in some cases, the rational public gets a chance to change that perspective. This teenager was on the second leg of a very long trans-Atlantic flight. Wiped out from a day of traveling and looking forward to his own bed at home, he reclined his seat when the cabin lights dimmed, hoping to catch some elusive 90-degree angle ZZZ's. However, the lady seated behind him—who also had her seat reclined—loudly and rudely forbade the teen from doing so. 

In a dramatic turn of events, with spilled drinks, lengthy remarks, and a tantalizing guilt-trip, the flight attendant on board decided to put an end to this Karen's tyranny by serving up a side of justice with her TV dinner. 

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Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer Jesse Kessenheimer
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    via Syda Productions

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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  • To the lady behind me in the airplane...

    I was flying to the UK, mind u this is my second flight of around 7 hours each so I was just super drained. About 4 hours in I recline my seat to take a nap, and this lady behind me just screeches and swears. I
    via n4wi
  • turn around, because I had reclined my seat her drink had spilled. I felt so terrible, apologised and she just says don't recline your seat and proceeds to say it's fine. I give her about 40 mins to finish her drink, turn back around to ask if she's done.
    via n4wi
  • She ignores me, she flat out ignores me. I sit there saying "excuse me ma'am" like 5x and she doesn't even waft an eyelid. I turn back around to compose myself cause I could feel myself getting upset. Then I just stare at her until she finally acknowledges me, I say "can I put my seat back now" and she just shows me her drink.
    via n4wi
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  • This attitude honestly just made me so upset. I call the flight attendant and explain the situation to him. He tells me that I can just recline the seat without asking her, and I say that I got yelled at and she was just mean. He
    via n4wi
  • just looks at me confused, goes to the lady and says that I want to recline my seat, therefore he's going to do it for me. She gets angry, she says the table hits her belly, she can't watch her movie, says she doesn't have enough
    via n4wi
  • space and just complains. The flight attendant just says "this is how the aircraft is built, if you look around there are multiple people who have their seats reclined. If you want to complain, you are free to do so in the Qatar airways site."
    via n4wi
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    via Syda Productions

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • He then leaves, and she starts to shove my seat. I just ignore it until she stops, she complains to her friend very loudly about how I reclined my seat and how inconsiderate I was. Probably because she got no reaction out of me, she calls the cabin manager, and
    via n4wi
  • for obvious reasons the cabin manager defends me too. Mind you this lady is 50+ years old, and I'm 19. The flight attendant asks if I'm okay, and gives me a squeeze on the shoulder. If I hadn't received that reassurance I think I would have just cried.
    via n4wi
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  • Nobody is happy when they're on a long flight. It's uncomfortable, the food is terrible, your knees bonk the seat in front of you, and someone's baby is desperately crying so their ears can pop. As a petri dish of society, though, flights are an interesting way that we're all forced to coexist, often commiserating with those around us in a strange, silent camaraderie. However, some people think that their misery is more important than others, so we need to make sure that those people are reminded that we're all stuck in this flying shoebox; so it's best to just hunker down and shut up about it. 

  • EDIT: I have received many different options on my post, and I'll just round my thoughts up. Firstly, I had a 50+ year old woman yell and screech at me in a public place, I felt anxious and terrible for my mistake. However, I did not realise that
    via n4wi
  • me reclining my seat meant the table would suddenly collide with her belly, I've reclined multiple other times without having this issue. I have now learnt to be aware of my surroundings when reclining my seat.
    via n4wi
  • Secondly, I did not realise there was a made up rule of "don't recline it is rude". I have seen everyone in the airplanes recline around me, person in front of me do it, and never a fuss being created.
    via n4wi
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  • Unfortunately I will be one of those people using the airlines feature when my back is sore, or I want to sleep on the plane. If it is a short 4 hour flight I am not the type of person to recline, but my flight was 14 hours plus transit all together.
    via n4wi
  • I understand that the seats are crammed up and uncomfortable, I'm not at peak comfort either. If you are above 5'10 and your legs get tight in spaces I understand you're tall and I will offer to swap seats with you so both of us can be happy.
    via n4wi
  • For me, attitude to certain things are important. The fact that I got ignored when I asked her politely if I could move my seat back had me upset. I know that if she had immediately acknowledged me and told me her drink isn't finished, I would have not reclined my seat for the sake of being nice.
    via n4wi
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  • Unfortunately her rudeness didn't sit right with me, therefore I called cabin crew. I am not going to sit in my anxious bubble because of some lady who wasn't nice to me, and feel uncomfortable for the rest of my flight.
    via n4wi
  • I will also not be arguing with someone who is respectfully much older than me, but will call cabin crew to de escalate the situation, even if it was just for me.
    via n4wi
  • It is also ridiculous how, because she didn't get her way she started to shove my seat and be immature about it, she is a grown woman. She has 30 years more life experience than me, I don't think I should be going out of my way to be mature here or deal with her attitude.
    via n4wi
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  • Thirdly, I agree with most views on how economy seat is just crammed up and airlines just stack humans on top of each other. I recognise that it is completely wrong, and the tight spaces can create chaos as we're all literally breathing on each other.
    via n4wi
  • However that's the way it is. Airlines having reclining seats is a feature that is available. And for people like me who get back pain for sitting during long flights, I will recline my seat. I paid for a seat, which reclines therefore I will recline. She paid for a
    via n4wi
  • seat, which reclines therefore she can do the same. The person in front of me reclined, I got uncomfortable therefore I will also recline due to the lack of space. It's kind a of a pattern. I did not realise that reclining was rude, as I had never felt that way. Also I would like to note: her seat was also reclined.
    via n4wi
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  • BooYou1378. It was your seat to recline, people are just mean, I'm glad the flight attendants were nice.
    via BooYou1378

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