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Woman Tries To Ignore Creepy Seatmate Who Won’t Shut Up, Until She Gets Moved And The Reason Surprises Her
Air travel is often fun and exciting, and most of your fellow passengers will likely be decent people. But it only takes one problematic and disrespectful individual, who doesn’t care about basic politeness and travel etiquette, to ruin the entire trip for everyone around them.
Popular content creator Steph Bohrer went viral online after making a video discussing what happened on a bizarre flight from Charleston in South Carolina to Portland in Maine. She revealed how one passenger kept making completely inappropriate comments to her and another woman, no matter how hard they tried to ignore him. However, another passenger and an insightful flight attendant soon found a way to help them. Scroll down for the full story.
RELATED:
Toxic passengers who don’t respect anyone’s boundaries can ruin plane trips for everyone onboard
Content creator Steph opened up about how her seatmate harassed her and another woman. Here’s what happened next
You can watch Steph’s full viral video right here
@stephbohrersurprise surprise I had a weird airplane experience♬ original sound – steph bohrer
There is absolutely no excuse for making inappropriate comments to anyone on a long trip, on transport, or anywhere else. These comments are particularly disturbing when you’re then stuck with the toxic seatmate literally sitting right next to you on the plane for the next few hours.
It is lucky that one of the other passengers noticed the behavior and alerted the flight crew. Usually, the more people witness a dangerous or inappropriate situation, the less likely anyone is to actually step in. That’s called the bystander effect. And you have probably personally experienced its effects, too.
In a nutshell, the bystander effect means that the more bystanders there are witnessing someone in distress, the less likely any single person is to actually intervene. This is because they either freeze up from seeing the emergency situation, don’t want to put themselves at risk, or assume that someone else will help. So, you keep being passive and wait for others to step in and take charge.
The opposite is also true: if you are the only person, or just one of a handful of people, witnessing a crisis, the more likely you are to take action! So, theoretically, if you were traveling on a smaller airplane with fewer passengers, you would be more likely to receive assistance if someone started behaving inappropriately. On bigger flights, it is easier for everyone to pretend that it’s ‘not their problem’ and assume that someone else will solve the issue.
The upside is that you can train yourself to be more proactive and step in to help others during distressful situations. Meanwhile, don’t forget that even small actions of courage can embolden the people around you to also offer help.
“The intervention of bystanders is often the only reason why bullying and other crimes cease. The social and behavioral paralysis described by the bystander effect can be reduced with awareness and, in some cases, explicit training. Secondary schools and college campuses encourage students to speak up when witnessing an act of bullying or a potential assault,” Psychology Today explains.
“One technique is to behave as if one is the first or only person witnessing a problem. Often, when one person takes action, if only to shout, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ or ‘The police are coming,’ others may be emboldened to take action as well. That said, an active bystander is most effective when they assume that they themselves are the sole person taking charge; giving direction to other bystanders to assist can, therefore, be critically important.”
At the end of the day, if you want to reduce the effects of the bystander effect, you should stop expecting others to be the first ones to act in a critical situation. Be a leader, even if you don’t see yourself as one: speak up, delegate tasks, ask for help.
What are your thoughts on the entire situation? How would you have reacted if a passenger made similar comments to you or anyone else on the plane? Who is the most toxic and inappropriate person that you’ve ever had to travel with, and how did you handle things? How do you protect your boundaries while traveling and elsewhere? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
Here’s what internet users had to say about the disturbing situation
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What do you think ?
Lily bloom 4 hours ago
Wow, like, that story, that story was, like, so creepy. So creepy and, like, that guy sitting, sitting behind them was, like, so cool for, like, looking out for them, for them.
Bumpuff 4 hours ago
It nearly like drove me like mad reading that story. The OP is like really like irritating.
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Lily bloom 4 hours ago
Wow, like, that story, that story was, like, so creepy. So creepy and, like, that guy sitting, sitting behind them was, like, so cool for, like, looking out for them, for them.
Bumpuff 4 hours ago
It nearly like drove me like mad reading that story. The OP is like really like irritating.
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