Entitlement comes in all shapes, sizes, and professions. While it might sound absurd, the truth is that people tend to put some jobs on a pedestal, and some who work in these fields take it for granted. They also start believing that they deserve better and act smug about it.
Even this uniformed service member felt that he could just hijack a couple’s paid window seat on a flight. However, when the couple refused, they were shocked by other passengers’ hostile behavior towards them and vented online. Scroll down to uncover all the drama that happened before the flight took off!
Some people believe that their profession gives them a right to special treatment
Angelov1 / envato (not the actual photo)
This uniformed service member hijacked a couple’s window seat, but when they asked him to move, other passengers protested
haritonovstock / magnific (not the actual photo)
The author added that the entitled Army guy was not the only one in uniform
Many people respect military personnel, but putting them on a pedestal is just extreme
Since 1973, America has had an all-volunteer military instead of a draft. According to the US Army Recruiting Command, only 1% of the population currently serves in the armed forces. However, when we look at statistics on why US citizens think people join the army, the reality is a little different.
A survey analyzed feedback from 2,451 respondents. About 47% of respondents believed troops joined the service out of patriotism or a sense of duty. Meanwhile, 43% believed they joined for employment, and the remaining 10% selected desperation.
In contrast, survey respondents who had served in the military were less likely to cite patriotism and citizenship and more likely to cite the pay and benefits. As most citizens do not serve, some tend to see service members as heroes, rather than just normal working people.
Also, praising and supporting the military is seen as a sign of a good patriot, so folks might refrain from criticizing for fear of backlash. Whatever the cause, putting a certain profession on a pedestal is not really ideal.
After all, opportunists start to take advantage of their position when entitlement is just handed to them on a silver platter. Experts at Verywell Mind explain that “a sense of entitlement is a personality trait in which someone believes they deserve special treatment.”
“Such people have a self-absorbed view of the world and little regard or empathy for their impact on others. In its extreme form, it may be part of a personality disorder such as NPD,” they add. When the public in general supports this behavior, entitled individuals will never realize their actions are wrong.
Suhyeon Choi (not the actual photo)
Entitled people have little empathy for how their actions impact others
In the author’s situation, the military fellow blatantly used his profession to try and take over the window seat, without even adding a “please” to his “request.” That clearly showed his entitlement, but other passengers disregarded his smug behavior because of his uniform.
According to a recent study, most flyers (95%) consider seat preference very important (53%) or extremely important (42%). Also, over half of Americans (58%) prefer window seats, followed by middle seats (28%) and aisle seats (12%), while only 2% have no consistent preference.
No wonder we hear so many stories about passengers brawling over the much-coveted window seat. The study also found that most people who agreed to a seat swap regret it (84%), with the most common reason being that they felt pressured or obligated to agree (26%).
Well, the author should be applauded for not giving in and for standing firm despite other passengers’ protests. It was quite a bitter start to a vacation that he was taking with his wife. People generally go on trips to unwind from their monotonous daily routine.
Getting caught in a conflict right at the beginning might sour their mood for the whole vacation. Besides, they had paid around $600 for it, so obviously, they wouldn’t want to give up the seat. Well, in-flight drama is a given when entitled people are involved, and it’s such a small, congested space; tempers sometimes flare.
People online were shocked that the other passengers backed the uniformed service member instead of the couple. But what are your thoughts about it? Let us know in the comments. If you found this plane seat drama interesting, feel free to check out an older story we covered before.
Netizens were outraged that people think they deserve special treatment for being in the military
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