“Oh honey, I’m sorry you have to fly in economy class today with the kids while I fly in first class…I have to work.” Yeah, that’s rarely going to end well…especially when the husband chose to sip whiskey and chat up his female seatmate instead of actually working.
The Tale Of The “Working” Husband Who Left His Wife In Economy Class To Drink Whiskey And Chat With The Young Lady Sitting Next To Him
We’ve wondered before which spouse should get the first class seat if there is only one and my answer has always been that it goes to my wife…on the condition that she take the baby too. Here, a husband placed his wife and two children (about age two and five) in economy class while he flew in first class, ostensibly to work.
But what happened instead was that the man consumed whiskey and chatted up his seatmate, who happened to be a young female flying in first class for the time.
That did not sit well with the man’s wife, who marched up to first class and confronted her husband, then returned to her seat after dropping the toddler in his lap. The young woman shared:
“We were talking for like 15-20 minutes at this point, and as if on cue, his wife comes up with the babies, like a two-year-old and a five-year-old, and plops the baby in his lap and is like, ‘If you’re not going to work, then the least you can do is watch one of the babies!’
“She is p*ssed!
“…And you know, he was just like, “Oh, hi.” She was just asking how we met.”
The wife snapped back, “Yeah, we’ve been watching you with your head turned over here for the last 20 minutes.
A “very heated, awkward conversation” between the couple ensued, as the five-year-old stood in the aisle watching.
At first the young woman feels sorry for the man, but then she began to ask why he had left his family in economy class in the first place.
Her takeaway: “don’t talk to a man with wedding rings on, it’s just not worthwhile.” Then she goes a step further and says to “choose wisely” and do not marry someone who is going to leave you in the back of the plane with two young children.
https://www.tiktok.com/@jordynnwynn/video/7242507003174751534?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
There is no way I am defending the man here. He should not have spent so long chatting with her or drinking whiskey if he had work to do. But that last point is a bit much.
If his employer did pay for him to fly first class so he could work or arrive rested and ready to work upon arrival, it would be stealing from his employer to give the seat to his wife. Sometimes families get to come along on “work trips” but the only way this is possible is if they fly economy class. Not everyone is wealthy enough to buy first class seats for the entire family.
But when I am traveling on my own dime and only one upgrade clears, my wife gets it. I fly enough and giving her the upgrade is the least I can do for putting up with all my travels.
And finally, let me say it’s a two-way street in terms of choosing wisely. A husband of noble character would not ditch his wife in economy class to chat up a younger woman. But a wife of noble character would not fight with her husband publicly in front of the kids on an airplane. I’m not making an equivalency argument and the same would be true of the roles were reversed. Still, I am saying that the better way to handle a situation like this is to gently confront your spouse after the fact, which leads to meaningful behavior change and more love instead of bitter resentment.
CONCLUSION
A wife extracted revenge on her husband by confronting him in first class and dumping the baby on his lap. The husband shares the greater blame, but I don’t like the behavior of either one.
And let’s not preclude that this entire incident may be the fable of a great TikTok raconteuse, but it sill makes for a great discussion.
(image: @jordynnwynn // H/T: View From The Wing)
Matt, my wife would not want to waste money or points on first class for two young children and would be happy to sit in economy class even if I had an upgrade (work or not) in First Class. She would… insist on some goodies (such as some nice dinners and such) or me looking after the kids later.
Now about chatting the young lady up: She’s cute and perhaps even charming to talk to. My wife sometimes is annoyed that I’m chatty with total strangers. I went with her to my H.S. reunion and chatted up the (happily married) prettiest girl in class who turned out had a crush on me back then and my wife got jealous and treated me like a king for 2 months.
Don’t worry about the married guy: He’s doing fine.
It’s BS to do that…..*IF* it happened. I believe as much on Tic as I do on Reddit AITA. Skepticism goes a long way with silly stuff like this.
While the husband’s actions are certainly questionable, it’s important to consider both sides of the story. If the husband’s flight was meant for work purposes, it would be unfair to give the first-class seat to his wife. However, communication and respect are crucial in such situations, and public confrontations should be avoided. Ultimately, this story serves as a reminder to choose wisely and prioritize open communication within relationships.
Stories like this remind me of why I stopped being a friendly guy, especially when it comes to women. Headphones on, ignore, ignore, ignore. Don’t interact, don’t help with a heavy suitcase, just try to blend in with the scenery. My mantra is that if I say as much as two words to someone while I’m in public, I’ve failed miserably. Dude should have kept his mouth shut, ignored the girl, and let her enjoy her glass of water. Doesn’t matter that he told her flat out he was married and had kids. Doesn’t matter that he didn’t make a move. Doesn’t matter that he was just telling her about his job after she asked. The minute he acknowledged her existence he made a massive mistake. And now he’s learned.
To publicly melt down over your spouse chatting with a seat mate and because he’s not doing the amount of work she thinks he should be doing just tells me that she’s mentally unstable or it’s just a bad relationship.
For those that may disagree, let’s reverse the genders. Wife takes the upgrade to work, but husband is monitoring her closely, notices that she’s not doing the amount of work he thinks she should be doing and talking with the 25 year old man next to her, freaks out and demands that she take a kid. People would be calling him controlling and still making HIM out to be the a***ole.
Agreed.
You just have to “believe all women,” because it worked so well during the Amber Heard fiasco.
Morale of the story……. don’t get married! Ha, ha.
Leave the wife at home next time.
I’m sure he will.
Anyone drinking whiskey isn’t working, and any man who would move away from his family on a flight isn’t much of a husband or father, Reverse genders and it’s the same indefensible (though I see many commenters trying to defend it) argument. This ends long run in divorce because this guy is a narcissist.
@Babblespeak: “any man who would move away from his family on a flight isn’t much of a husband or father, ” Interesting!! I am flying my family of 4 to Europe on vacation and I have two seats in business class and two seats in coach. Since I travel a lot for work always in business class I could not care less for that so I gave one seat to my wife and each kid will fly one way with my wife in business while I fly coach with the other kid. Does that make a bad husband and father? Just wondering.
You are a bad husband and father for other reasons.
At least imaginary divorces by people who don’t exist tend to be cheaper than those in real life.
I dunno, I wrote some great memos while sipping wine on a plane. That said, I always offer my spouse the upgrade if only one of us gets it. She often appreciates the offer and gives it to me.
However, I would not take upgrades when traveling with little kids. In fact, I usually had to trade it to get back to sitting with the munchkins.
After watching a few times I’m almost positive this is mostly fiction.
She unexpectedly got upgraded but didn’t know you got free drinks in first? If she got upgraded she must fly a lot, and would no doubt know about free alcohol.
The logistics of the parents arguing and her having a conversation with 5 year old also sounds suspect.
Agreed this is highly suspect. But she’s a great storyteller.
The other issue is how the wife was able to see what happening at the front of the plane from her seat in economy, unless she was in the first seat of economy and he was in the last seat of first on the other side of the aisle? OR making regular trips to see what he was doing?
Plus I have a feeling had a meltdown like this really occurred, someone else in first would have recorded it happening.
I’m not on IG or TkTk so I only took a casual look at her platform, but all I see are a bunch of selfies. For someone who takes pictures of her face so much, she didn’t bother to take a single photo of her in the so called first class cabin? Maybe I missed them. Pics or it didn’t happen.
If you’re insecure and immature do not get married. If you’re worried about your spouse talking with someone, or not working as you see fit, get some help. If you’re having a public meltdown in front of the kids, get a divorce.
“Chatting up” seat mates, fellow travelers – even to the degree of mild flirting to the extent that is what is going on – is one of the joys of travel. It’s a perk of the job. Spouses of those that travel a lot for work surely understand this. As a business traveler that often travels solo, I have encountered this countless times over the years. It is what it is.
Did it occur to anyone this is completely made up and she didn’t even go on a flight?
Me. But this is being latched onto by the sheep as being “100% factual because it’s on the interwebz”. I take anything I see on those platforms with a healthy dose of skepticism.
I have given 100% of my upgrades to my wife (she doesn’t have status) in the past and will continue doing so. I would gladly keep my 4 year old daughter with me in coach and let her enjoy a few hours of peace and comfort. She does so much for our family.
The concern about talking to seatmates is valid. I often hesitate to engage in conversation with younger/pretty women as my intentions may be misinterpreted. Very happily married and intend to keep it that way.
I feel bad for their children who will have to live through the inevitable divorce that is forthcoming. On a somewhat tangentially related topic, could US carriers PLEASE stop marketing the forward cabin of domestic flights as “First Class.” It makes us sound stupid when we use it. Much like how we refer to any sparkling wine as champagne. Or the brewery near my house that proudly serves a “Bavarian Kolsch.”
Qatar Airways does the same, though at least with them you get access to their first class lounge, which definitely makes the misnomer worth it. Unlike with US carriers where you don’t even get lounge access when flying Domestic First without membership or certain types of status or transit involving long haul.
You also get the First class check-in im Doha, which is downright elegant, the Al Safwa is worlds better than the Al Morjain, and you board from the lounge on a First Class bus if your flight departs from a remote stand. I suppose you’re not wrong, but QR and AA/DL/UA aren’t really the same conversation
Is it that you’d prefer it to be called business class?
I think I get your point, that domestic first class compared to international first class can be kind of like comparing a Camaro to a Ferrari.
On the other hand, I much prefer domestic first class to some of the shenanigans that are marketed as “business class” in Europe.
Yes, I’d prefer business , or “premium class” or something like that. It frustrates me that people don’t understand there’s a difference between F and J.
“First Class” moniker is pretty good, and it makes sense. It’s the front of the plane. Are EU trains stupid too? Most of them use First Class and Second Class, and it sounds logical, to me.
“Economy” also actually sounds weird, when you think about it. (In this case “Main Cabin” is also a better alternative)
@Mr. Marcus your analogy is funny because Le Mans just happened last week, they brought a NASCAR Camaro to race, and it was gapping some of the Ferraris near its class. Your analogy is still very valid but it’s just funny compared to what I saw.
I just booked a similar situation. Me in first and the wife and two kids in coach. I have a good woman, she doesn’t complain. Although she does like to tell people about it while boarding to make fun of me. If there is a pretty girl sitting next to me even better.
Hmmm….I was a road warrior for 17 yrs and was magically able to work in coach when I wasn’t upgraded.
I also have given an upgrade to my wife when we only got one upgrade. Think of it as a long term investment.
About this article. I suspect that he wan’t in first class for work, he probably just made that up. Similarly, this probably wasn’t the first time he left his wife with the little kids instead of helping out. Probably the last in a series of similar events.
The whole thing sounds completely made up to begin with, not just the first class for work part. Sounds to me like this incident never happened, or that she wasn’t on a plane at all to begin with.