So today was a first: just before boarding our CR7 for a 2+ hour flight, I was paged to the podium, where the gate agent told me a non-status passenger had been asking after my seat and, although she had refused to move me, that I should be prepared to field a request to switch onboard! I was seated in 2C, the aisle seat in the second (and final) row of the 1-ailse-2 first class. I was first in line to board in Group 1 when lo and behold passengers holding boarding passes for 1A and 2D slid in front of me out of nowhere, scanned their boarding passes before the agent was even ready, raced to the aircraft, and plonked themselves in 2C and 2D. Generally, I am amenable to respectful requests for seat changes, and frankly I would have booked 1A over 2C if they were both available, but I was all to happy to separate the couple given their multiple transgressions. When I pointed out that someone was in my assigned seat, I was asked to relocated but declined on false account of my distaste for the bulkhead.
When we were deplaning, I explained to the man who was ultimately unable to sit beside his girlfriend, why I hadn't accommodated their request that I move. He became verbally aggressive towards me and started using derogatory, sexist language in the presence of the flight attendant, who he had been treating disrespectfully all flight. When he told me I "should be glad we're on a plane," I decided I had a few extra minutes to stick around after the flight to contribute my testimony to a report with a supervisor. The cabin crew as well as the front line and management customer service staff seemed to appreciate my advocacy. So, in short, I did not feel like a jerk for saying no to a seat change request, especially because the requester ended up being not only an entitled jerk but also a violent misogynist!