/soy/ - Soyjaks

I was sat next to a man while sitting in the middle seat on a plane. Even though he had the aisle, he still felt entitled to my space and man-spread as soon as we took off.

On instinct, I went to shy away and move my leg inward so that it wouldn’t touch his. But, I thought to myself, why should I move? We are all jammed in here like cattle, I deserve this tiny amount of space I paid for. I shouldn’t make myself even less comfortable for this random man.

So, I didn’t move my leg.

I continued to sit straight in my seat and play some games on my phone and listen to music. He actually had the nerve to try shifting my leg over with his knee and I could see him out of my peripheral vision looking at me. Despite the massive sense of awkwardness and how impolite I felt, I kept firm, ignoring him. I just sat there, existing just like every other passenger on the plane. Eventually, gave up, crossed his arms, huffed, and stopped trying to spread into my space.

I’d like to note that this man was a very average height and build - not excessively tall or large and physically unable to fit in his assigned space. I would have had sympathy for that, especially as I had a very tall partner once who literally did not fit into normal plane seats.

This man was clearly simply expecting to take the space meant for me, that I paid for, because he felt that he could. Had I been another man, I promise you he wouldn’t have behaved the way he did as he would have respected that a man is allowed to take up the space he has paid for.

It seems so pathetic to feel so proud of myself for something as simple as not moving my leg, but I am. I am proud that this time I didn’t let myself fawn at the demands of a random man or give up because I felt impolite for taking up space I was entitled to. I paid for that tiny space, and it’s going to be mine, goddammit.