A Man Refused To Open The Window Shade On A Plane & The New Etiquette Debate Is Fierce

There have been plenty of airline etiquette debates when it comes to swapping seats on airplanes, but who has control over the window shade during a flight?

TikToker Eric Goldie has sparked a new conversation centred around this question after posting a video of a fellow airline passenger reaching into Goldie's space and trying to open a window shade before Goldie swats their hand away.

In the video, Goldie shows exactly what happened and it's inviting a lot of reaction online with over 5.5 million views.

He summed his stance by captioning the video "my window, my rules."

After widespread traction on the first video, Goldie posted follow-up TikToks to answer certain comments.

One of the questions was what happens when a window is in the middle of the rows.

Goldie responded by showing exactly where his headrest was after he reclined his seat and said it was not 50/50.

He also explained it further in an interview with Narcity.

"The window was directly next to my head and the man behind me reached through the back of my seat to open it. I would still say it was my window," he said.

Goldie says he's surprised by how much reaction his video is getting.

"I was happy to see that the majority of the people in the comments were on my side (as childish as that sounds). It seems that the basics of airplane etiquette have gone out the window," he added.

When it comes to the window shade debate, international etiquette expert and former flight attendant Jacqueline Whitmore tells Narcity the situation becomes complicated if the window is in between seats, but in Goldie's case, it wasn't.

"When he [Goldie] reclines and if that window, the whole window, is in his face when he reclined then it's clearly his decision to raise or lower it."

Whitmore adds that it's important to note the window affects everyone in the row and not just the person sitting next to it, so the person in the middle and aisle seats can ask to raise or lower the window shade.

Goldie says the incident happened on a flight from Grand Cayman to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York right after New Year's Day.

When asked what happened after he swatted the fellow passenger's hand away, Goldie says that was the end of it.

"They did not try again after I pushed their hand away. We didn’t have any other words exchanged about the matter," he told Narcity.

Airplane etiquette frequently becomes a heated issue on TikTok, and in this case majority of people in Goldie's comments are siding with him.

"If you have to reach to the persons personal space behind or in front of you, it's not your window," one person said.

Other people suggested what they do to prevent similar situations.

"I carry a small blanket and shove it in the space so people can’t do that to me any more," one TikToker wrote.

Others are applauding Goldie for standing his ground and keeping the window shade shut.

"The hand slap is the vibe I’m going with for 2023," a comment reads.

However, there are a few people who are questioning what the window placement was when Goldie's seat was not reclined.

"When reclined. When upright what did it look like," one person wrote.

"Your seat, when reclined… lol, maybe they were trying to get you out of their lap," another TikTok user chimed in.

Those comments sparked another chain of reactions, with people once again backing Goldie.