What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? Apparently the answer is that a plane can’t take off.
As shared by TikTok user @larrylarson.06, a flight on an unknown airline immediately went haywire when two women got into a heated exchange while boarding. The video begins with the women in mid-conversation (or mid-screaming match), with one requesting that the other swap seats with them so that she can sit next to her daughter.
The young girl, she claims, has “special needs,” is already “freaked out,” and will “ruin the flight” unless she sits next to her mother. It should be noted that the daughter in question is nowhere in sight during this whole exchange.
“What do you mean she’s on her way?” asks the woman in the seat. “How old is she?” The mother hits back with a response that shouldn’t be funny but is: “She wanted peanuts!” she cries.
The mother attempts to cajole the other into her seat by pointing out that it’s also an aisle seat and only two rows behind, but the woman isn’t having any of it, leaving the flight attendant to intervene and ask the mom to return to her own seat. Given that she was operating at an 11 to start with, it’s perhaps not surprising that she doesn’t react well to not getting her way. Even so, things take a surprising turn when the mother lashes out at the other woman as the camera shakes.
Flight etiquette is a widely disputed matter, and despite this airborne Karen’s volatile attitude, it seems many are on her side as they feel she has a right to want to sit next to her child and that the other woman could’ve been much more compassionate in this situation. “I still don’t see why the lady wouldn’t just switch seats, I get mama messed up, but it’s called being nice,” reads one pro-pugilist comment.
Someone else thinks that, though the woman won the battle, she might not have won the war: “When they separated us my 5 and 2.5 yr old were other sides of the plane. the attendants wouldn’t do anything so I gave the ppl nxt to them snacks and diapers and wished them luck for the next 9 hours.”
On the other hand, some don’t have any sympathy for the manhandling mother and her apparently haphazard booking skills. “I have 3 kids, one is special needs,” someone shared. “If I can’t book seats together in some way then I’m not booking.” And, anyway, isn’t she forgetting something? As one comment puts it: “If the plane was about to leave her daughter is going to miss the plane I think this mom is missing the bigger issue.”
So… who’s in the right here? Should you move to let a parent sit next to their kid on a plane? Legally, there’s nothing stopping moms and children from sitting separately, as airlines are not required to make sure families are sat together — except for children two years old or younger. Some airlines have a policy that parents must be only one row away from their child on the flight. In this case, then, the mom was only trying to uphold this guideline, as she was two rows back. Even so, the woman has every right to refuse her request.
It really just comes down to what kind of person you are, and unfortunately for those on this plane (but fortunately for those of us craving some TikTok drama), these two women could not have been any more different. One possesses the energy of a Duracell bunny with rabies and the other is as lively as Joe Biden during a presidential debate.
As it happens, the mom was naturally thrown off the plane once she laid hands on another passenger. Hopefully, she remembered to take her daughter with her, or else Peanut Girl is about to be living the Kevin McCallister life.
