“Do People Not Know Personal Space?” — Passenger Crowds Woman to Take Photos Out of Her Window Seat

A TikToker named Sterling (@sterlingsavannah) recorded an airplane passenger who was getting all up in her grill while trying to take a photograph of the friendly skies from her window seat, and there were throngs of other folks on the platform who had their own opinions on how they would've handled the situation.

Sterling's course of action? Grin and bear it while avoiding eye contact with the space invader: "Do people not know personal space?" She asks in a text overlay of her video as she records herself looking out of the window of an airplane while the other passenger, an apparently older gentleman rocking a vest is also looking out of the same window as he stands right beside her.

At some point in the clip, he takes out a cell phone and snaps a picture out of the window several times. She adds in another overlay in the clip: "And that you can choose a window seat??" questioning the flier's decision to not select a window seat prior to boarding the plane if he was so concerned with grabbing photos whilst up in the air during the flight.

There were several commenters who replied to her video who said that there wasn't any way they were going to be that quiet if someone had crowded their "personal space" in a similar manner.

But different folks said that they had different ways of communicating that sentiment. There were some who said they would've gone about it with physical action: "The way I would have closed the shade so fast"

While there were others who thought that vocalizing their discomfort with the situation would've been a better way to address/handle the situation: "That’s when you ask, 'can I take the photo for you instead of you reaching into my personal space?'"

One TikToker wrote that in these types of situations that its imperative for folks to sound off when others are encroaching upon their personal space/boundaries: "It’s very important to be able to advocate for ourselves when someone is making us uncomfortable."

And then there were those who couldn't fathom not piping up and letting the man know he was being inconsiderate: "I don’t understand how someone could not speak up in a situation like this," one wrote.

Someone else replied: "Girl you gotta speak up"

But there were TikTokers who seemed a bit more sympathetic to Sterling's flight plight: "The comment section is a bunch of people not understanding the freeze response," one penned.

According to one person in the comments section, the guy was being intentionally annoying in the hopes of pestering you so much that you would offer him your seat so that he could have the window all to himself throughout the duration of the flight.

"I think he was 100% being deliberate hoping it would make you uncomfortable enough to then offer him your seat," they wrote.

However there were those who seemingly sided with the man as well: "Just let him know. He seems nice," one said.

Another wrote: "he seems sweet," while someone else replied: "Let people enjoy the view as well. As they maybe couldn’t book a window seat or at the check-in all windows seat were unavailable"

While "hovering" over someone in an attempt to take a photo out of someone else's window seat didn't make it to this list of 20 most annoying airplane passenger behaviors, there is a not-so-savory name that's been given to those who take it upon themselves to crowd the pre-boarding area of a flight: gate lice.

This pejorative term is appended to overly eager passengers who want to board a plane before everyone else and will stand in front of a gate before they are officially called to do so because they want to hurry up and sit down in their cramped and crowded seat before everybody else.

Their reason for doing so? It's more than likely to get access to the overhead bins on a plane before other passengers so their carry-on bags don't need to be checked prior to boarding. Sure, it might be complimentary, but who wants to go through the hassle of waiting around a baggage carousel after being in a tight airplane cabin for a few hours?

Have you ever deal with a "hovering" passenger like the kind Sterling documented in her video? What would you have done if you were in her shoes/window seat?