Plane Passenger Says Her Boyfriend Was Scolded for Helping an ‘Older Lady’ Put Her Bag in the Overhead Bin — Here’s Why

The traveler said she had to get the incident "off my chest” in a retelling shared to Reddit

An airplane passenger claims her boyfriend was scolded for helping an older traveler put her bag in the overhead bin.

In a retelling of the incident on Reddit, she explains, “We were stuck behind an older lady in first class (Row 1) who was having trouble putting her carry-on in the overhead bin.”

She recalls her boyfriend seeing the woman struggling, so he “offered to help her.” She adds that the older passenger then “got out of the way into her seat, and he lifted her suitcase into the bin and moved on.”

The original poster (OP) says the trouble began after her boyfriend’s kind gesture, as a man sitting in the second row believed he was using the first class overhead bin space for himself.

“An older man in Row 2 saw him walk past first class and immediately yelled, ‘Hey! That space is for first class only!’ And started looking around for backup.”

Related: Plane Passenger Sparks Outrage Over 'Self-Centered' Parents Ditching Kids for First Class — But Who's Wrong?

“I tried to inform him as I walked past that my boyfriend was only helping but he didn't hear me,” she says. “My boyfriend just shook his head at me and rolled his eyes and said keep walking.”

The traveler referred to the ordeal as a case of “first class defensiveness” in her post.

She adds, “I'm pretty annoyed although obviously this isn't worth any confrontation. But I do feel like we need to chill out a little with assuming the worst in people.”

Related: You Actually Should Stand Up ASAP When the Plane Lands, Says Travel Expert: Here's Why (Exclusive)

Her fellow Reddit users had plenty of advice to share in the comments, as well as some outraged reactions.

“IMAGINE being that miserable,” one user wrote, followed by another adding, “People can really suck sometimes for absolutely no reason.”

Another joked, “You should have just kept saying, ‘What?’ louder and louder until he worked himself up and got kicked off the plane. And then take his seat.”

A different commenter wrote, “Thank you and your boyfriend for being wonderful people and helping someone who needed it. Sorry you had to deal with a jerk.”

Related: Passenger Calls Out Couple Cuddling on Airplane in Photo, Exposing Bare Feet in the Aisle: 'My View'

Others agreed with how the OP and her boyfriend handled the situation.

“Yep, you didn't owe that guy any explanations. Your boyfriend is like me, just ignore the fool and keep it moving. But yeah, Karens are gonna Karen, nothing you can do about that.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, another user said, “Older man obviously made a bad assumption… not a battle worth fighting !!”

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Travel expert Nicole Campoy Jackson previously told PEOPLE that it’s important for all plane passengers to have compassion for each other as flying can be a stressful experience at times.

“I think the more we can all remember that airports and airplanes are places of higher stress and tighter quarters than normal, the better,” she said.

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