Flying in economy is unpleasant at the best of times. The seats aren’t great, the amenities are usually nonexistent, and as time ticks by, you start to feel more and more like a sardine squeezed inside a can alongside all the other tiny fish. In these circumstances, people occasionally forget how to behave.

One woman learned this on a recent flight when she had the misfortune of sitting in a window seat next to someone who spent much of the flight leaning over her to take photos out the window. I get it, flights are one of the few places you can marvel at how beautiful our planet is from above, but if you like looking and taking photos out the window so much, why wouldn’t you book a window seat?

@sterlingsavannah

Only option was to stare out the window

♬ Funny - Gold-Tiger

Commenters were split on whether this older gentleman was annoying or endearing. One commenter wrote, “That’s when you ask, ‘Can I take the photo for you instead of you reaching into my personal space?’” That’s a decent idea — unless you end up stuck as his personal photographer for the duration of the flight.

Others thought it was sweet, with one woman writing, “I’m all for personal space, but I think he’s adorable taking pictures still and that is my toxic trait. But I would for sure be discussing [it] with him.” In a follow-up comment, she added, “I think it looks to be an innocent thing; he just didn’t fully comprehend he was up in her space.”

That is a huge part of the problem, TBH — women often work to make sure they take up as little space as possible so as to not inconvenience anyone, while some men walk around oblivious to how much space they’re taking up (see: manspreading) or how much they’re encroaching on someone else’s space.

All in all, like many things that go viral online, this probably could have been resolved in person with a quick conversation about respecting personal space and an offer to take a photo or two for the man before declining to take any more. But that wouldn’t make for interesting content, would it?