The rules for storage space on a plane are pretty simple. With a few exceptions for medical equipment, things for babies, etc., you can bring one carry-on bag with you that goes in the overhead bin, and one personal-sized bag that goes under the seat in front of you. If you’re in a bulkhead seat, your personal bag has to be in the overhead during takeoff and landing.
And yet, despite these easy rules, frequent flyers have seen just about every kind of bad airplane etiquette imaginable.
Oversized carry-ons. Passengers using overhead bins nowhere near their seats. People taking up more storage space than they actually need.
But every once in a while, someone comes up with a brand-new way to leave everyone else scratching their heads.
That’s exactly what happened in a recent Reddit post that quickly had hundreds of commenters weighing in—not only about what happened, but what they would have done if it had happened to them.
The person who made the post, u/ayachdee, posted a photo that looked something like this:
Their accompanying narrative was:
Person in front removed their shoes, reached behind their seat and put them in our storage space. Zero shame.
Zero shame indeed. I mean, who would ever have the gall to reach below their own seat, to use the storage space there, for their own items?
Of course, the internet had a WHOLE lot to say about this particular situation. 😉
One of the first comments were that these weren’t just ANY sneakers—they were Golden Goose Sky-Star sneakers, which, depending on the style, can go for upwards of $790 (a few people in the thread said they cost $700. One said they go for $1000. I’ll take their word for it; I’m typically a Sketchers/Puma girl). And honestly, that almost makes it worse. If someone can afford $700 sneakers, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume they’ve been on a plane before and know how under-seat storage is supposed to work.
Anyway, back to the comments…and there were close to 500 of them.
MANY focused on the way to get the person’s shoes out of there. The one, offered by u/grenille, got the most upvotes (over 1500 of them) was:
Excuse me? Someone from the last flight must have left their disgusting, smelly shoes under my seat. Would you please throw them in the trash? Thanks!
But many, many others were along the same vein—to tell the flight attendant that “someone’s” shoes were in their storage space and could they please get rid of them.
Others suggested more passive aggressive options, such as u/BaltAmour’s contribution:
You’re on the aisle. Pick them up. Carry them to the back of the plane, they go in an overhead bin. Somewhere around aisle 30. Enjoy.
That one got close to 600 upvotes and one of the replies, from u/ambid3xtrous, made me cackle:
left shoe, right aisle, row 26
right shoe, left aisle, row 31
laces: lav, seatback pouch, your choice
Other fun comments:
- Pass them around the plane, see where they end up. — AlGuderian
- (in response to the above) This happened on a plane I was on. The person whose space they were in just passed them one seat back. By the time the plane landed they were 8 rows back. Nobody knew how they got there. — _interlard_
- Ask everyone to sign them and pass to the next person — dirt_mcgirt4
- Ties the laces together is so many knots that’d it be impossible to wear them off the plane– diamondmine216
- Those are like 700$ golden gooses, i would’ve taken them 🤣🤣– jesirume
But my favorite ones were the stories others said about their own experiences:
- Years ago I was flying from HNL to SFO. The woman in front of me kept reclining her seat hard and got mad when I asked her to put it upright to eat. When we were taxiing to the gate at SFO, I grabbed my backpack from under the seat in front and one of her wedgie shoes was there. I grabbed it and put it in my backpack. When we were deplaning, she was on all fours looking for it. In baggage claim I saw her bobbing up and down with one 3 inch shoe on. It still makes me smile when I think about it.– No-Effect-4973
- I had this happen on a flight. I slowly pushed them out into the aisle. When the flight attendant asked who’s they were I just ignore it. She tried to put them under her seat. Flight attendant said no. Problem was solved.– RUSTYDELUX
- Wayyyyyy back in the 90s I had this happen. I put ice cubes in the shoes. — Substantial-Rain-602
- This happened to me but with a coat and I didn’t know whose it was. Gave it to the FA, they asked around, then offloaded it. Going to Chicago in January. The person realized they lost their coat when they arrived.– thebemusedmuse
And yes, apparently some adults truly DON’T know. Said u/PackagingMSU:
I had this happen to me and the guys kid had to correct the dad. I was absolutely not going to let him put his stuff in my area, and I was protesting. The dad said to me, “so what?! The area under me is not my space!?!” The kid answered dad no you get the space in front of you. It was hilarious.
The ending to the story was not nearly as much fun as, shall we say, the possibilities. u/ayachdee said they reached through the gap, tapped the shoe owner on the shoulder and asked her to move them. She moved them but was annoyed.
In the end, the passenger handled the situation far more politely than many of the commenters would have.
But judging by nearly 500 replies, this struck a nerve with a lot of travelers. Whether it was because of the entitlement, the lack of self-awareness, or simply because we’ve all dealt with someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them, people definitely had opinions.
As for me? I still can’t believe someone thought this was perfectly acceptable.
So now it’s your turn: What would you have done if this happened on your flight?
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
