Traveling by air is already squishy and congested. There are a lot of people crammed into a small area sharing the same air, confined to their tiny personal space. Some spots and locations on the plane are better than others, but for the most part, sitting in the economy class means you just want your flight to be as smooth and trouble-free as possible. The least amount of discomfort while you’re soaring at an altitude of thousands of miles in the air is the goal!
For Savannah Philips, 32, she had quite a rude and unpleasant encounter, making this flight, not a very good one. Everything started off business as usual, but then quickly took a nasty turn.
Savannah’s trip from Oklahoma City to Chicago had been changed due to a pending storm. Her seat was assigned at the gate, and upon boarding, she felt nervous. She says, “I’m not the biggest person on the airplane, but I’m not the smallest. My worst nightmare is someone being uncomfortable because they have to sit next to me.” The mom of two is working off extra pregnancy weight.
On this flight, Savannah was seated beside a man in his 60s who told her he was a comedian. Everything was fine at first until she watched the man take out his phone and start typing with his extra large font and screen brightness turned all the way up. Savannah was able to see his screen because they were in such close quarters – and she was devastated.
“…He proceeded to text someone that he was sitting next to a ‘smelly fatty.'” She says, presuming it’s about her, the person sitting right beside him. “Before I knew it, I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face. I sat and cried silently, hoping this guy didn’t try to make small talk, because I didn’t trust how I would react and I didn’t want to get kicked off the plane. I was so hurt…”
Moments later, in between sobs, Savannah looked up to see someone come from behind them and tap the insensitive man on the shoulder. The stranger informed the man that they would be switching seats immediately. The stranger recalls saying, “You’re gonna sit in the seat I was sitting in, and I’m gonna sit here, and he said ‘Thank you but why? What’s wrong? And I said you’re a heartless human being and I read the texts you were writing, and she did too and she’s crying.'”
The kind man is Chase Irwin, and he sat down beside Savannah. He too noticed what the man had texted and saw her reaction. He thought it was best to step in, so he asked the man to switch spots. Chase sat down and put his arm around Savannah and told her he had read what she read on the man’s phone. The two continued to chat for the duration of the flight. Savannah calls Chase her hero, turning a heartbreaking story into a heroic one.
Click below to catch more of what went down on the flight.
