After some “complaining” and dirty looks from fellow travelers, the passenger decided to intervene, they explained on Reddit
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Stock image of a passenger on their phone on an airplane
A plane passenger is opening up about an uncomfortable — and relatable — travel interaction.
On a recent flight, a fellow traveler, who the passenger estimated to be in their 20s, was “watching a show on full volume on their phone in the next row over,” the individual shared in a Nov. 7 Reddit post.”
The show was so loud that other passengers were “complaining” and giving dirty looks, they explained. But as time passed, nobody said anything — until the Reddit user decided to step in, that is.
“After 15 min I finally got up and asked them if they could turn it down,” the original poster (OP) wrote, noting in parenthesis that they “may have said it in [a] certain tone.”
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“They ended up turning it down,” the user revealed, but not without a reaction from the person next to them. The offending passenger’s partner “looked over and rolled their eyes,” the OP recalls.
According to the traveler, confronting a stranger was uncharacteristic for them, but the show was so loud, they felt they had to step outside of their comfort zone.
“I usually never say anything and put my headphones on. But this was so loud you could still hear it through the headphones,” they wrote, adding that they almost alerted a flight attendant, “but they weren’t around.”
Despite the slight awkwardness of the situation, the user said they are “glad” they spoke up, because the flight was “so peaceful” afterward.
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A person uses their phone on an airplane
The awkward interaction inspired numerous other Reddit users to share their equally annoying encounters.
One commenter shared they had the “exact same experience” on a recent flight. A fellow passenger, whom they estimated to be in his 50s, began “blaring Facetime and videos full volume” before takeoff and continued long into the air. In response, passengers were “exchanging glances, giving him ‘the eye,’ and trying to call over [flight attendants], to no avail,” they explained.
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“I finally stood up, turned around and asked him to please turn it down or use earbuds,” the user recalled. “Funny thing is that he was like, ‘Oh, sure, no problem,’ and immediately did. It was like he had no clue, at all, that he was breaking protocol and just needed to be asked. Go figure.”
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In response, the original poster revealed that their experience was similar because the person blasting their phone on their flight also appeared to be unaware of the loudness.
“I think the same thing happened here,” the original poster responded. “They were completely oblivious of how loud it was.”
Plus, they added, the passenger was “kind of embarrassed afterwards.”
PEOPLE previously spoke to travel advisor Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel about basic etiquette on a plane.
Jackson explained that any in-flight tiffs should be handled by flight attendants as they’re trained to confront passengers about this.
“I am always in the camp of getting a flight attendant involved for sticky in-flight situations,” Jackson said. “Tensions run high when we’re traveling plus they would know, for example, if there was another aisle seat or another solution to this problem. They have more context than we, the passengers, do.”
