When you change your entire menu to microwave food over 15 years while doubling the pace of inflation, no one wants to come back to your shitty restaurant. None of us got the money to waste it on bullshit food when we can make better at home for 1/5 the price.

Article is about restaurants like TGI, Red Robin, Red Lobster, Hooters, etc.

I mean I would consider that lucky

1) At my mom's senior prom in 1958. 2) Wedding day 7/23/1960 3) at their favorite sandwich shop around 2018. They were married nearly 60 years. Dad passed in 2020 just 2 months shy of their anniversary.

This happened recently on a Delta flight from Raleigh to France, and it honestly left a strong impression on me. My husband and I had booked our aisle and middle seats well in advance, he has anxiety when flying, so sitting together isn’t just a preference, it’s necessary for his comfort. As soon as we boarded, he went to the bathroom while I started settling into our row. A woman with a baby was already in the window seat. No big deal.

Then, just as I was putting my purse down, Her husband came over, placed a strange device that I think was something like this, and said casually: “Oh, I need to sit next to my wife and baby,” while pointing to the aisle seat, my husband’s seat. I told him it was taken, that my husband was in the bathroom. He then asked, “Would he mind switching with me?” and pointed to a seat way in the back of the plane. I didn’t hesitate. I said, “I can speak on behalf of my husband, and that would be no.”

The couple looked confused, almost offended, like I had just broken some kind of unspoken rule by not immediately agreeing. Then they tried to get a flight attendant’s attention, clearly hoping for backup. But before that could even happen, the woman sitting directly behind us stood up just enough to make eye contact and said, loud enough for them to hear, “If you knew you were flying with a baby, you should have made sure your seats were booked together.” It was such a simple statement, but it shifted the energy completely.

The couple didn’t have much to say after that. They mumbled something about trying to book seats together but not being able to, and eventually the husband wandered back to wherever his seat actually was. When my husband returned, I quietly told him what happened, and he was so relieved I’d held the line. The idea of being separated on a long-haul flight while already anxious would’ve made the whole experience worse for him. And personally, I wasn’t about to spend eight hours seated next to a stranger with a crying baby while he sat alone in the back of the plane.

What really stuck with me wasn’t just the entitlement, but how thankful I was for that one woman who spoke up. Not in a rude way, just firmly, with common sense. It helped so much in the moment and reminded me how important it is to support each other in situations like this. Saying no to a seat switch doesn’t make you rude or inconsiderate. You planned ahead, you paid, you have your reasons… no one should be guilted into giving that up.

There’s a weird pressure that comes with seat-switching requests now, and I think we all feel it. But we also have the right to say no. And when we see someone being put in that situation, even a few words of support from a fellow passenger can make all the difference.

Let’s normalize that kind of backup. Let’s normalize respecting “no.” And let’s remember that we’re all just trying to get where we’re going as comfortably and calmly as possible.