Passengers on two separate flights have been caught red-handed while sending offensive text messages about their seatmates.
A black woman on a four-hour flight from Puerto Rico’s San Juan Airport (SJU) to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) confronted a man seated next to her when she saw him sending messages about her to his family.
Taila Rouse said that when she glanced over at the man’s phone, she saw the words “Big black woman” in a text message, which piqued her curiosity to continue reading the exchange of messages.
Rouse then saw how the man and his family exchanged messages about the “woes of being stuck sitting next to a big black woman”.
She claims she also saw the man say that he hopes airlines continue to raise prices so that “these people” cannot afford them.
“Yes I could’ve minded my own business, but why should I let him slide?” Rouse wrote in her TikTok caption.
Rouse’s TikTok video shows how she then confronted the man.
“I wasn’t going to say anything but I decided I wanted you to feel as uncomfortable as I do,” Rouse can be heard telling the man.
“I want you to know that I saw your text messages and I think you’re disgusting,” she continued.
The unseen man can be heard saying, “What text message?”
“You know what I’m talking about. I’m not going to repeat it because everybody doesn’t need to know but I want you to know that I know,” Rouse answered.
Eventually, the man can be heard mumbling an apology.
“You don’t have to be sorry to me. You’re sorry because I saw it,” Rouse said.
“If you’re gonna be bold enough to pull your phone out in the middle seat of an airplane and freely talk disrespectfully about black people, then I’m going to be bold enough to say something to you,” Rouse wrote to her TikTok followers.
The video, which was uploaded at the end of May 2023, has now garnered over 3 million views and likes.
Rouse posted a succeeding video showing the man typing the offensive messages.
Large text font
In a separate incident, a different passenger was caught sending malicious messages due to her phone’s extra large font settings.
TikTok user @mizz_crizzy shared her “first racist encounter” while on board a flight to Canada in January 2023.
@mizz_crizzy posted a 10-minute clip of a passenger slowly typing a message, saying that she was looking out the window and that the “other two seats are taken by two very large dolled-up black ladies, one of whom is extremely hostile.”
Towards the end of the clip, the passenger can be seen editing the message to add that “she makes Serena Williams look like Twiggy”.
Ultimately the poster and her companion did not confront the passenger.
The passenger’s face cannot be seen, but by the appearance of their hands and speed of typing, it can be assumed that they are elderly.
