sorter

This just happened. Boarded a 14 hour international flight, and I asked the flight attendant if I’d be able to move to an aisle seat. He said it was a relatively empty flight and there were plenty of open seats, so feel free to. I was also one of the later passengers to board (or so I thought). I chose an aisle seat in the middle 4 configuration that was fully empty, and the rows behind and in front were empty as well.

A few minutes later, two families boarded and were seated in the rows in front and behind me. I won’t sugarcoat it, but their BO was excruciating. To each their own, but given that this was a 14 hour flight, I was not about to voluntarily put myself in that position. After they settled in, I grabbed my backpack to move a few rows further back. I tried to do it as smoothly as possible to not draw any attention, but one of the family members noticed and seemed to take offense to my movement, and asked if there was something wrong. I couldn’t exactly say it was because I wanted more space, because neither the direct seat in front nor behind me were occupied. I shrugged and tried to leave it at that, but he asked again. I then straightforwardly told him that I have a sensitive nose and I didn’t like the way they smelled.

That really pissed him off and he said something about me being racist. I said it had nothing to do with race and I apologized for my sensitive nose - I really tried to frame it as a me problem. At this point, the flight attendants were coming around to prepare for take off so that’s where things ended.

AITA? I really didn’t want it to come to having to tell them about the smell, but he seemed so insistent on knowing why. Maybe there’s also a better way I could have framed it? Genuinely open to judgment and what I should’ve/could’ve done instead. Thanks!