Plane passenger annoyed when another flyer refused to do her a ‘favor' — but there's a big reason why you shouldn't
The passenger took to Reddit to ask whether she was in the wrong for refusing to watch someone's bags at the gate.
The user explained that they were sitting next to a woman with a young son who needed to go to the bathroom 10 minutes before boarding began.
The mom asked the passenger for what she said was a 'big favor' — to watch their bags while she took her son to the bathroom.
'I said I'm really not supposed to. She gives me the stink eye,' the user wrote.
A different woman next to them in the boarding area said she would watch the bags, but the mom was 'clearly still mad' that they said no.
They explained their reasoning in the post, saying that 'not only is this a safety issue (probably not in this case, but in theory), but also I wouldn't have wanted to miss my boarding group.'
The mom and son did end up coming back in time to board, but not before boarding started, the poster said.
'I used to have young kids, and if mine had to go to the bathroom, I would always just schlep my bags to the bathroom. I wouldn't ask someone else to watch the bags,' the user said.
They also explained that they had a previous experience where they got 'bawled out' by a gate agent when they were about to watch someone else's bags, with the agent saying it wasn't allowed.
In the U.S., there are regular TSA announcements warning passengers not to leave luggage unattended and to keep their belongings with them at all times, as well as not to accept any items from strangers.
People on Reddit sounded off in the comments, with a majority of users agreeing that the passenger was right to decline.
'If the woman and son were your wife and child, you'd be the [a–hole]. Otherwise you're good,' one said.
'TBH I'm more surprised that she trusted a stranger enough to watch her bags,' another wrote. 'But yeah that's something airport employees mention every time you go through an airport. Don't do that. Not worth it!'
'It's actually a safety issue in airport s… you're never supposed to take responsibility for someone else's bags bc you don't know what could be in them. May sound crazy considering it's a lady and a kid, but you never know, and that's what airports advise,' someone commented.
'If there is something dangerous or hazardous in the bags, you could be held responsible. They should have taken their bags with them to the bathroom.'
'The list of possible bad outcomes is too large. It's not a matter of being nice or not, it's just not the right thing to do,' a user said.
Others weren't as sure.
'I've watched bags for moms with kids running to a bathroom before, because I'm a nice person. I also hold the door open for people because I'm a nice person. It's not like she asked you to transport her luggage … she needed to take her kid to go to the bathroom,' someone said.
'Is it really that big of a deal to watch someone's bags for 5 minutes?' another questioned.
'I guess it might be situational but do you really think a woman with a young child has packed contraband and gotten through security? And somehow you'll be blamed for it?' one asked.
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