Not everyone travels well with others.
For the past years it feels like safe travel has become a thing of the past.
Everyone is yelling, fighting and filming.
Anything can set people off.
Case in point…
Redditor Actual_Leek_4410 wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA for taking off my shoes on a flight?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“Recently, I traveled to another country to attend a metal concert.”
“The flight was going to be 1.5-2 hours.”
“I only had a carry on with me but I wanted to wear my knee high doc martens which are heavy and big and wouldn’t fit in my carry on and even if they did, they’d be awkward to carry.”
“But I also didn’t fancy to sit in them for the duration of the flight in a small space.”
“So I made sure they don’t smell, preventatively sprayed them with shoe spray before I left home.”
“When I sat down in my seat, I took my shoes off and put on fresh socks.”
“My shoes were under my legs, they weren’t bothering anyone.”
“A lady was about to sit next to me and she saw that I didn’t have shoes on and she freaked out, called me disgusting, etc.”
“I tried explaining that I had clean socks but she demanded I put my shoes back on. I refused.”
“She called the stewardess and I explained again.”
“The stewardess told her there was nothing she could do because I wasn’t breaking any rules.”
“The lady was huffing and puffing all throughout it the flight.”
“She also filmed me when she was berating me so who knows, it may be online by now.”
“But I tried to ignore her and just put my headphones on.”
“The lady even complained about this when we were giving our passports and they ignored her as well.”
“I told my friends about this and they’re kind of divided.”
“Some agree with me and some say it’s kind of gross and I could’ve been more accommodating and put my shoes on.”
“AITA for taking my shoes off?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole.
“NTA. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a flight where people don’t take their shoes off.”
“Seems to be very common.”
“I’m surprised by the AH comments like this is unusual behavior.”
“Would the lady have been enraged if OP was wearing flip flops?”
“This whole thing is weird.” ~ Questionofloyalty
“On long distance flights it is common to get airline socks so you can take your shoes off without having cold feet.”
“I could understand issues if one had extremely smelly, sweaty feet and rancid shoes and stuck them through the gap between window and seat or started grooming your toenails.”
“But OP sounds like they were very considerate. NTA.” ~ Fettnaepfchen
“Compression socks!!”
“This has become a huge problem for me and after a recent PAINFUL 2 hour flight I bought bombas compression socks for my next cross country one (5 hrs).”
“I’ve also had the terrible experience of not being able to put my sneakers back on after taking them off.”
“Also, OP, NTA.”
“ETA: compression socks worked amazingly, 10/10 highly recommend.” ~ waddlingpanda123
“When you fly, you are traveling in a fart-filled aluminum tube that smells like an airplane bathroom by the time it lands.”
“I’m not sure your foot odor would be detectable, unless you had a legendary case of stink foot. NTA.” ~ EffPop
“I once saw a lady take off her sneakers with no socks on next to me.”
“As someone who wore docs before I got crocs (life changing), I took my boots off, partially because my feet swell (as most peoples do inflight) and i have a clotting condition.”
“Plus hot feet. OP is most definitely NTA.” ~ RunOnGasoline_
“I was going to say you were the a** but then you described your very reasonable prep and clean socks, and I absolutely get that ‘I can’t pack these boots I’ll have to wear them’ vibe. NTA.” ~ Right_unreasonable
“As long as your feet don’t stink and you ain’t bothering me… I don’t care what you do.”
“You paid for your ticket. NTA.” ~ milesassociates
“100% this.”
“If I paid for my ticket and my feet don’t stink (which they don’t), you can bet I’ll be taking my shoes off during flights. NTA.” ~ EmeraldBlueZen
“It’s not like OP was barefoot — which is unambiguously gross.”
“I genuinely don’t get how wearing clean socks where neither the shoes nor your feet stink could bother anyone. NTA.” ~ uhhh206
“NTA. I have a question for people who disagree.”
“What do you do when you find yourself next to someone wearing flip flops?”
“Do you lose your minds or what?”
“Socks provide way more coverage than sandals.”
“What about those weirdos who wear socks with their sandals?”
“Where do they fit in all of this?” ~ pineconehedgehog
“I also vote NTA.”
“BUT at least a flip flop wearer had their feet aired out and cool.”
“Some people walking around all day in socks and boots unleash the worst moist rancid smell when popping shoes off.”
“But OP here gets a pass for the shoe spray and fresh socks.” ~ XxhumanguineapigxX
“NTA. I regularly (frequently) take off my shoes on flights.”
“Particularly on long flights.”
“No one has ever expressed concern about me doing so.”
“The other passenger just has a weird thing about it.”
“Hence the flight attendant’s reaction.”
“Even weirder was raising it with immigration too.”
“What would she do if you were wearing sandals where even with them on the she could see your feet.” ~ ShadowKraftwerk
“NTA. Most people don’t for shorter flights, but it’s completely normal to remove your shoes for longer ones.”
“Wearing your heavy shoes is sensible.”
“I did a red eye to London this summer, wanted to bring my docs, and like HELL was I going to wear them while trying to catch 5 min of sleep.”
“So off they came.”
“Nobody gave my wooly socks a second glance.”
“No idea what her problem is.”
“Maybe she’s one of those foot fetishists that doesn’t realize not everybody is attracted to feet and for her it was like you stripping down to a bra.” ~ alizarincrimson
“NTA. As long as someone’s feet don’t stink and they’re not clipping their toenails then who cares if someone has their shoes off.”
“’No one wants to see your feet’ isn’t even a good excuse because flip flops and sandals existing means you’re gonna see feet in public.” ~ ctortan
“NTA. You made sure there’d be no stench and you wore fresh socks so I don’t know why that lady freaked out that bad cuz u didn’t have bare, smelly feet out.”
“If I sat next to you on the plane I wouldn’t give a s**t.” ~ _Sad_Monkey_
“NTA. I used to travel in flip flops for comfort and so I didn’t have to take off shoes at security until a friend pointed out that in case of emergency (like the rare chance of a crash) you want shoes on your feet.”
“In my opinion not wearing shoes isn’t disgusting, but not the safest either.” ~ dwells2301
“I hate feet with a fiery passion.”
“There are no exceptions to this, and strangers feet are especially gross to me.”
“That being said, taking shoes off on a flight is fairly common AND you were wearing socks.”
“That lady was out of line to yell at you and try to get you in trouble for something relatively common. NTA.” ~ kellyoohh
“NTA, she overreacted, it’s not like she was touching the *contaminated* ground with her own feet.”
“Plus, she realizes we have to go through security check through in *GASP* our socks, right!!!??”
“Whatever does she do there?”
“She could have asked for a seat change too.” ~ Kirin2013
“I know on long international flights I have been on, they even give you flight slippers since they expect you to take your shoes off.”
“That way you can walk around and not have to put them back on. NTA.” ~ dncnexus
“NTA, you were wearing fresh socks, this is one of those things that would only personally bother me if someone’s feet were like actually in my space- which would be true for any body part, or if they were smelly.”
“I like to take my shoes off for plane rides and long road trips sometimes too.”
“If she can just not look at you and have the situation not impact her life, it shouldn’t be your problem in my opinion.” ~ HabitualEnthusiast
“NTA? Honestly, this is weird.”
“I’ve always removed my shoes when flying.”
“Socks on occasion too.”
“There is nothing for your friends to be divided about as you did nothing wrong.”
“If that woman is a closeted germaphobe or your feet were getting her hot and bothered due to some undisclosed fetish, she should have said so.” ~ MercifulExistential
“NTA. You took pretty much every precaution to minimize consequences of being shoeless.”
“There are no rules against it and it literally affects no one as long as your feet doesn’t smell like rotten eggs marinated in decomposing fish.”
“I travel with work a lot on a team bus and whenever we have a trip longer than an hour, I take my shoes off so I can get comfortable without damaging the seats.”
“No one has ever complained and as long as my feet don’t smell I’d also tell them to bugger off.” ~ Mancunicorn-ish
Well OP, Reddit is clearly with you.
You tried to be accommodating.
Just be careful on the next trip, it’s dangerous skies out there.