Sharing a photo on Reddit, she wrote: « The audacity. This is my poor (wo)man’s first class… » The image shows a man spreading his legs into her footwell, forcing her to keep her legs tucked in and preventing her from taking advantage of the extra space.
While some users believed there was enough room for both passengers, others criticised the man for « manspreading » without considering the impact on her. One user commented: « Is that the 27F seat? That’s the one I chose because I heard it’s the best seat, and now I’m worried I’ll have the same issue. »
Another user added: « This is such bizarre behaviour. If there were a seat there, he wouldn’t be stretching his leg and foot underneath it… or maybe he would. He probably would — who am I kidding. »
A third user shared: « My dad always gets this seat on Southwest (he’s six foot six inches), and the other day when we flew together, he had to tell the lady in front that the space was actually for his backpack, not her second carry-on that she refused to put overhead. He just said, ‘Excuse me, that’s my spot to put my bag,’ but she gave him such a nasty look. »
Another user added: « At least he still has socks and shoes on. My wife had to go full wife mode to stop us from getting kicked off a plane when some random stranger’s bare foot slid up and touched my arm while I was in a window seat. I just turned around and said, ‘No, no, no, no.’ »
One more user advised: « This is when I put my backpack at the edge of my floor space. He can’t put his foot in your space, and even though you lose some room, you can stretch your legs over your bag and take back the space. This has worked many times. »
Sharing how she eventually resolved the issue, the woman added: « I pulled my backpack up into the space to use as a leg rest so he had to move. Passive, but it worked – for now. »
