Woman On A Packed Flight Refuses To Use Headphones While Watching Videos On Her Phone At Full Volume

It seems as if the nightmare passengers on plane stories never end, from people screaming about fellow travelers who are “not real” to a child’s strobing light shoes keeping the entire aircraft awake.

Some people will just never respect plane etiquette.

One woman’s recent experience on a flight has raised the question of whether or not a certain habit that some passengers engage in is appropriate, or if they simply just lack self-awareness.

The woman was seated next to a passenger who was watching videos on her cell phone at ‘full volume’ with no headphones.

Sharing her story to the subreddit, r/AITA, the 32-year-old woman revealed that she had recently taken a Southwest flight from Dallas to Chicago. She was seated in the window seat of her row and there was a woman who looked to be in her 50s in the aisle seat.

“The plane filled up and only middle seats were left,” the woman wrote. “So I was happy when this cute girl in her early 20s wanted to sit in our middle seat.” The woman assumed that the young woman would be unproblematic and quiet, and sat back to listen to her audiobook on her headphones.

However, as they were preparing for take-off, the young woman took out her phone and proceeded to watch videos on TikTok at full volume without using headphones.

Woman On A Packed Flight Refuses To Use Headphones While Watching Videos On Her Phone At Full Volume Photo: GaudiLab / Shutterstock

“I was in somewhat disbelief by her lack of self-awareness, but thought okay there’s no way she’s going to do this for more than five minutes,” the woman admitted.

A half an hour went by and the young woman was still listening to videos at full volume. “The videos were so loud (I could hardly hear my audiobook) and just ridiculous mind-numbing crap,” the woman wrote.

Eventually, she became so annoyed, that she asked the young woman if she could turn down the volume or use headphones.

“She says nothing to me but gives me the nastiest look like I am in the wrong for telling her off, and proceeds to barely turn it down,” the woman shared.

This prompted the woman to act rudely right back. “I proceeded to turn my brightness up on my phone and very obviously text my husband about what a devil she is and basically rip her apart and make sure my texts about her are within her line of sight,” the woman wrote. “I am sure she saw the texts because she avoided eye contact with me for the rest of the trip.”

After the flight, the woman could not help but wonder if she was in the wrong for the way she reacted, and if she should have even asked the young woman to use headphones or turn down her phone volume at all.

“Is it entitlement? Do they consider the people around them and just not care?” she asked of other people like the young woman who refused to use headphones to watch videos and listen to music on flights.

While most people agreed with the woman’s complaint some were unsure she handled it properly.

“What you were asking was basic human courtesy. You have every right to ask and every right to complain to your husband about the rude person you were next to on the plane,” one Redditor commented. “Any sane person would have had enough self-awareness to be mortified and immediately complied when you asked her to wear earphones,” another user wrote.

Others argued that even if the young woman was rude, the woman could have handled it differently. “All you needed to do was ring for the flight attendant to handle it. That’s their job,” one user noted.

“You’re only wrong for not calling a flight attendant to shut it down,” another user wrote.

Woman On A Packed Flight Refuses To Use Headphones While Watching Videos On Her Phone At Full Volume

Some people lack self-awareness and consideration for others.

The woman was seated next to a passenger who was watching videos on her cell phone at ‘full volume’ with no headphones.

Eventually, she became so annoyed, that she asked the young woman if she could turn down the volume or use headphones.

While most people agreed with the woman’s complaint some were unsure she handled it properly.

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