Public transport can be convenient, fast and calm but it can also be a real headache. Because as you may know, everything depends on the people who are on this journey together with you. 

Now, let’s talk a little bit about window seats. There are people who prefer it, especially on planes, and are happy when they get it without paying additional fee. There are also others who don’t care and others who pay additional money to get this seat as it may help them with flying anxiety, they just enjoy watching the view from above or it just makes the trip more comfortable.

More info: Reddit

There is a golden rule that whoever has a window seat is in control of the window

Image credits: Oleg Prachuk (not the actual photo) 

Woman shares that she has flying anxiety and looking out the window is the only thing that helps her not to freak out

Image credits: u/addieapple

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo) 

For that reason she paid extra money to get a window seat

Image credits: u/addieapple

Image credits: Kai-Chieh Chan (not the actual photo) 

However, in the middle of the flight, the lady who was sitting next to her reached over to shut it

A few days ago, one Reddit user took her story to one of the Reddit communities, r/mildlyinfuriating, after she had paid for a window seat on the plane, but an entitled woman decided that she could shut it halfway through the flight. This story gained a lot of attention and in 10 days it had over 64.6K upvotes and 5.2K comments.

So to begin with, the author shares that she has flying anxiety. And the thing that helps her to calm down is looking through the window while flying. For this reason, she had purchased a window seat ticket. However, it turns out that not everybody knows the unwritten rule that whoever has a window seat is in control of the window.

The passenger who was sitting next to the OP reached over her, slammed it and bluntly said that it hurts her eyesight. Well, this was rude, but okay. However, she also managed to throw away one of the woman’s cups, which was in her seat with a full soda can inside. So 30 minutes later, OP started getting nervous and decided that she had paid for this window, meaning she could do whatever she wanted with it.

The community members shamed this entitled passenger’s behavior and shared their personal experiences in similar situations. One woman wrote that she has encountered similar rude behaviors from older women who feel like they are higher up or from men who expect that everybody will listen to them. Another added that people like this are generally narcissists and don’t care about others around them.

Image credits: Pascal Borener (not the actual photo) 

Additionally, it’s not a new thing for someone to have flying anxiety. Actually, for a while, I have been also terrified of traveling by plane, thus it was interesting to research how many people are not the biggest fans of flying as well and in general how to calm down and fight this fear.

So to begin with, Medical News Today states that aviophobia, which is a fear of flying, is a relatively common phobia. Additionally, if you are wondering what may cause this phobia, the extensive media coverage of aviation accidents play a big role. One’s perception of the safety of air travel can be affected by seeing photos of an airplane crash on TV or in the papers without even taking into account the actual risk involved.

Moreover, long lines, body scans, and X-ray scanners at airport security checkpoints can also make some people feel anxious. So, despite flying being the safest way to travel, according to Stratos, between 33% and 40% of all people experience some form of anxiety when it comes to flying. Also, between 2.5% and 5% of the population have crippling anxiety, a genuine fear of flying that is classified as a clinical phobia.

However, given that so many people find flying to be considerably more stressful than, let’s say, driving, it can be difficult to believe that it is always the safest mode of transportation. Between 2012 and 2016, there was only a 1 in 3.37 billion chance of dying in a commercial airline plane crash, and commercial plane incidents cause death only once in 20 million flights.

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that the likelihood of dying in an automobile accident is 1 in 114 for drivers and 1 in 654 for passengers. And the odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 9821, though this accounts for both general aviation, which includes small planes, and commercial aviation.

Okay, and finally, speaking about airplane window shade etiquette, according to One Mile At A Time, the person who sits in the window seat should be able to manage the window blinds and not need permission from those in the other seats to maintain them. As long as it doesn’t interfere with other passengers, the window shade can be opened or closed by the passenger in the window seat.

Don’t forget that everything can be solved by nicely communicating and asking, but if you are being rude – don’t be surprised if people are rude back to you.

Community members shamed the lady who was sitting next to the author and assured her that whoever sits in the window seat gets full control of it

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