Woman's Story About Plane Passenger Refusing To Lower Window Shade Sparks Heated Flight Etiquette Debate

Though arriving at a destination can be fun and exciting, traveling itself is often exhausting and annoying, especially when we're made to feel uncomfortable along the way.

TikToker Kelly Meng launched a heated debate on TikTok after she shared a story about taking a 15-hour flight next to a woman who refused to do anything but what she wanted with the window shade next to her.

Flying from Chicago to Tokyo, an anonymous woman sat in the window seat, Meng was in the middle seat, and Meng's boyfriend was on the aisle. A man who is also important to this encounter was in the aisle seat directly across from Meng's boyfriend in the middle row of the two-aisle plane.

The flight took place during the day, so the woman having the shade open at first made sense, so that she could enjoy the view. However, as the flight wore on and food was distributed, many passengers became tired and bored, so the most reasonable thing for many of them to do in preparation for the time change was to take a little nap.

Looking up and down the plane, Meng pointed out that every single passenger fully closed their window shade, making the cabin dark and a little bit cooler.

That was, except for Meng's neighbor.

Though Meng and her boyfriend said nothing, the man in the middle row politely asked if the shade could be darkened. The woman adjusted the shade setting so that it was turned down slightly, but the sun was still blaring in.

Since it was the middle of the day and the sun was high and bright, the man in the middle row had a face full of uncomfortable sunlight. He attempted to cover his face and eventually resorted to holding up a napkin to block out what he could.

Even the flight attendant came over and explained to the woman that there had been complaints from the other side of the plane from passengers in the row across the aisle and working their way back several rows, because of the trajectory of the sunlight.

Meng was still shocked by what the woman said to the flight attendant.

"I sh*t you not, this girl deada** looks at this authority figure, this flight attendant, and says, 'I'm not turning it down even lower. It's already, like, 75 percent down.'"

You can watch the video here:

Some were quick to argue that the passenger in the window seat gets to control the window shade, and that's that.

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Others agreed and said passengers need to come prepared with eyemasks and other equipment.

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But a few pointed out that kindness goes a long way.

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The window seat might be a desirable spot for some to control their view and lighting on the plane, but at the end of the day, sometimes we have to be thoughtful and consider other people's needs in addition to our own.

Dialing down the shade a little more wouldn't have cut off the view for this woman, but it would have made the man in the middle row and the folks on the other side of the plane a little more comfortable—and human to human, especially on such a long flight, maybe that's the more important thing in this case.