After a 7’1” man was uncomfortable on a plane, a 'very short' woman came to his rescue

At a towering 7’1”, Beau Brown has a huge problem. As a literal giant, Beau has to continually duck under door frames, hunt extensively for shoe stores that offer size 18, and account for legroom everywhere he goes. As he was going on a five hour long flight, he paid an extra $150 for a Delta Comfort Plus seat for enough legroom to just modestly fit inside the plane. Unfortunately, it not only didn’t provide enough legroom, but he had to keep his neck bent to fit under the overhead bin above him. “Luckily, there was an angel in front of me,” said Beau.

The person sitting next to Beau remarked, “Dude, you barely fit in this one,” as Beau took it all in good nature, and chatted with his seat neighbor and their cute dog. Overhearing their conversation and seeing Beau’s discomfort, a petite woman sitting right in front of Beau offered him her exit row seat.

“Do you want to switch seats with me?” the woman asked. “I’m very short.”

Beau accepted her offer and graciously thanked her. The woman even picked up the chocolate bar he accidentally dropped in the aisle and gave it to him as he switched seats. While it wasn’t enough room for a fully comfortable plane ride, it was significantly better and safer for him to sit there.

“That was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me on a plane,” said Beau.

This isn’t the first time Beau has had seat issues on planes. In 2021, he was kicked off his flight for being too tall and had to go on a different flight with a bigger plane. Even a first class seat didn’t fit him.

The comments lauded this act of generosity:

“I love that you didn’t ASK anyone to switch seats and throw a fit when they say no, like we see so often nowadays. And she was so sweet to offer! This is how humans should treat each other!”

“Dang you lucked out with the people around you at least.”

“It’s so nice to see somebody doing something nice for once, instead of rage bait.”

“Shout out to the girl!! How nice of her, nice people don’t get enough acclaim.”

“How kind of her, and you’re so sweet how appreciative you are.”

Other commenters sympathized with Beau’s plight about height on flights:

“At 6'3", I struggle on economy these days. I can't imagine flying anything other than business/first at your size.”

“I’m 6’9” and I can empathize.”

“It’s rough enough at 6’ with my height in my legs. I can’t imagine another foot to fold in. Bless her.”

“Dude, I’m 6’2 and am the most uncomfortable on planes. I can’t imagine being even an inch taller let alone a foot.”

“My husband travels almost weekly for work and has this constant battle as well and he is 6'10"! I think if your ID says a height above a certain point you should NOT be charged for needing extra room to exist!"

All tall puns aside, the height issue on planes is pretty big. It’s not just a problem with super-tall folks like Beau, but also with people who are even a foot shorter than him. With the average male height being 5’9”, this means that anyone 5’11” and above is considered “tall.” Anyone above that height has to pay more for a seat that modestly fits them, not just for comfort reasons but safety reasons as well. Not only that, but they are competing with others to get to those few extra space seats as more airlines have shrunken them to accommodate more passengers per flight to sell more tickets.

Let’s let this story be one of cooperation between the tall and the short. For every shelf reached for a shorter person by a taller person, a dropped item is picked up by a person closer to the ground. For every tiny adult shoe size at a store, an above-average size is offered at the same price. For every seat switched on an airplane so a tall person can be more comfortable, a seat could be switched with taller person at a concert or movie theater so the shorter person can see. A little kindness can make a big difference regardless of size.