A man asks the Reddit community if he was wrong to want to give his entitled wife a lesson by letting her sit beside a mom and baby whom she was annoyed with—for a whole 8 hours!
A Couple’s Trip
OP (Original Poster) and his wife went on a trip to Hawaii, paid for by his father-in-law. They had a great time, and they had seats on the plane’s first class.
He also mentioned that his wife was used to traveling, but he wasn’t. It was also his first time in first class.
Seating Arrangements
On their flight back, the couple was seated at the back of first class. He said, “We were sat near the back. We’re by the border between us and the ‘undesirables.’”
First to Board
As per most airlines’ SOP, after first class and business class, usually, parents with babies, the elderly, and people with disabilities are the first to board the plane. In OP’s story, a mother and her baby were among the first people who boarded after them.
Her baby was crying, and OP was feeling bad for the mom. He said, “I felt even worse for the mother as I know she’s probably equally distressed about the baby crying.”
Sympathy or Anger?
OP sympathized with the baby’s mom, but it wasn’t the same for his wife; she was mad!
He shared, “She kept making comments about how our flight was going to be miserable at best.
Her complaining went on for the longest time. She kept saying that the mother was irresponsible and that if she didn’t know how to calm her baby, she shouldn’t be taking it on a plane.”
Not Having It
OP tried calming his wife down and told her it wasn’t that serious, but she wouldn’t have it. Eventually, he got tired of his wife’s complaints and offered to talk to the mom.
His wife said she would be happy if he did.
Offering Up His Seat
After that, OP left their area and went to where the mom and her baby were seated.
OP shared, “I went back in between boarding groups and told the mother that if she wanted, I would give her my first-class seat so she can kick her feet up, and that may be more comfortable for her and the baby.”
Accepting the Offer
Initially, the mom didn’t want to accept his offer. However, she was encouraged to do so by her husband, so she eventually agreed.
The mom stood up and brought her stuff and baby to the plane’s first class. After that, OP got a series of angry texts from his wife.
It’s Not the Stone Age!
For OP, this was not a big deal; he knew his wife had noise-canceling headphones and was sure most people in first class would also have something like that. If not, he said they would still have standard earphones that could block out the baby’s crying.
He added, “It’s 2023, not 1990. We’re not living in the Stone Age.”
Angry Wife
OP further explained that the baby cried for a total of around 30 minutes for an 8-hour flight. So, for him, the baby barely cried, and it shouldn’t cause much fuss.
However, when he and his wife met up, she was livid. He shared that his wife told him that he ruined the flight and the end of their trip for her.
No Resolution
He told his wife she was “overreacting” and the baby’s crying was only “mildly annoying.” But his wife doesn’t want to drop the issue.
Was I Wrong?
Now, OP is asking if he was wrong to do this when he knew this was going to bother his wife.
He also said, “I also think I could be the a**hole for kinda using the mother and her baby as a way to teach my wife a lesson and involving her in this disagreement.”
The Community’s Two Cents
A lot of Redditors couldn’t believe this story was true. Many say the post is fake and was just posted for awards.
Someone said, “People saying it’s fake and bashing OP, which is true in my opinion and justified, but look at all the rewards. Even if it’s fake, OP got exactly what he wanted, so in the end, he won anyway, and everyone clapped for him by giving all those awards.”
Wrong Decision
However, some also took the post seriously and told OP he was an a**hole, especially for saying he wanted to “teach his wife a lesson.”
A Redditor commented, “It really isn’t a husband or wife’s job to ‘teach lessons’ or ‘punish’ one another. It’s degrading and not what an equal partnership should consist of.”
Everyone Did Something Wrong Here
Aside from telling OP that he did wrong, some people also wanted to point out that everyone did something wrong in the story.
One said, “Everyone is an a**hole. Your wife for being rude and lacking empathy. You for feeling as though you had a right to punish her for her behavior. And for using other human beings to inflict that punishment. They had to sit through several hours of a flight next to a person who openly didn’t want to be in their presence.”
What Do You Think?
Do you think OP’s actions were justified? What do you think OP should have done?
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This post first appeared as He Forced His Entitled Wife to Sit Next to a Crying Baby on an 8-Hour Flight to Teach Her a Lesson on Quote Ambition.
