Woman Confronts Man On Plane After Reading A Text He Wrote About Her — 'I Want You To Feel As Uncomfortable As Me'
"Yes I could’ve minded my own business, but why should I let him slide?"
TikTok A woman revealed that she confronted a man that had been sitting beside her on a flight after noticing he was sending racist text messages.
In a video, TikTok user Talia, who often shares travel tips on her platform, had been on a flight from Puerto Rico to Atlanta when she noticed that the man sitting beside her was sending racist and bigoted text messages about Black and gay people to one of his family members.
She told the man that she wanted to make him feel as 'uncomfortable as I do' after seeing his racist text messages.
In Talia's video, she recorded herself directly confronting the man after debating on whether or not she wanted to say anything in the first place. "You know what, I wasn't going to say anything but I decided I want you to feel as uncomfortable as I do."
She told the man that she had seen the messages he had been sending throughout the flight and that he was "disgusting" for the things he had been writing. The unnamed man attempted to pretend he didn't know what Talia was speaking about, but she was quick to rebut that he did know.
"I'm not gonna repeat it because everybody doesn't need to know," she informed him, "but I want you to know that I know, I saw it, and I think that you're disgusting." When he didn't directly respond to her, Talia pointed out that upon being confronted, he didn't have "anything to say to that."
He began profusely apologizing, but Talia wasn't having it. "You don't have to be sorry to me. You're sorry because I saw it, but I want you to feel as uncomfortable as I do sitting next to you."
In a follow-up video, Talia showed a video she had taken of the man's text messages to a family member that had been on the same flight. In them, the passenger was ranting about how he was unable to sit beside his family and inquired when airlines would start to "raise prices and weed out these people," specifically talking about both Black people and Talia sitting beside him.
Photo: TikTok
In a separate text, the man wrote that someone he knew named Ryan, who was also on the flight, was "sitting next to a huge Black woman." Upon confronting him, there were still four hours remaining on their flight, and for the entire time, the man sat with his back turned, clearly embarrassed at being called out.
In the caption of her video, Talia provided more information, writing that while she "could've minded my business" she felt a need to speak up and put him in his place. "I happened to glance over and see the words “big black woman” so I continued reading. He and his family went on and on about the woes of being stuck sitting next to Black and gay people."
In the comments section, people praised Talia for speaking up and making him feel uncomfortable.
"I’m proud of you and don’t even know you. I know the back and forth with yourself on this was hard and you did that!!" one TikTok user wrote.
Another user added, "This is what handling it with grace and courage looks like! I am so sorry you had to experience this."
"You handled that with class. You called out a grown man and did it with more respect than I would have. I hope he is able to learn and grow from this," a third user pointed out.
Talia made sure to point out that if someone is "bold enough to pull your phone out in the middle seat of an airplane" and send racist text messages about Black people, then she has no problem making it known that such a thing is incredibly repulsive.
"I'm going to be bold enough to say something to you," she remarked.
Nia Tipton is a Brooklyn-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.