A “disgusted” female passenger wasn’t going to confront the “racist” man sitting next to her on a four-hour-flight, but then he went too far. Sitting at the window seat on her flight from Puerto Rico to Atlanta last week, Taila Rouse noticed the words “big Black woman” pop up on his messages, and decided to subtly read on.
“He and his family went on and on about the woes of being stuck sitting next to Black and gay people,” she said in a TikTok video, which now has more than 15.4 million views. “Then I see this man say he hopes airlines continue to raise prices so these people get weeded out.” Ms Rouse even managed to record his screen, showing his messages.
Deciding to “be bold”, the woman then confronted the man for his vile comments. “I wasn’t going to say anything but I decided to make you feel as uncomfortable as I do,” she said in the video. “I saw your text messages and I think you’re disgusting.” When he apologised, Ms Rouse said he only apologised because he got caught. “You don’t have to be sorry to me, you’re sorry because I saw it,” she said.
Social media users praise passenger for her response
Many were outraged by the incident and took to TikTok to commend Ms Rouse for confronting the man — calling her a “queen”. “I’m sorry that happened to you but I’m so happy you stood up for yourself,” one person commented. “Girl bravo! You are so damn brave. I would have probably cried but you handled this beautifully,” another said.
“Woooow, that’s messed up! Thank you for speaking up and bringing awareness to this,” a third said. Ms Rouse also thanked everyone for their support. “I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to share their thoughts and appreciation for my decision,” she said in another video. “Blood boiling, I sat with myself for a while on this one trying to decide what I wanted to do – if anything at all.”
