Red_01

An intimidating situation this lunchtime involving my elderly mother (75+ years old) on the flight to Dubai. She was one of the first to board in the club cabin (group 1), had a window seat and placed her trolley bag in the overhead compartment, on the opposite side to where she was sitting (she had a window seat), given that the bins above her were full with other things (not sure if they were crew bags or not, mum didn�t know).

An aggressive individual boarded late and shouted at mum to move her bag and told her �use you own side of the plane and not mine�, and made mum move her bag to another bin. Mum got quite scared and moved her bag with the help of another passenger - no help whatsoever from the crew. The passenger who helped was amazing, an Australian gentleman (in case he is on this forum - THANK YOU!) .. he had had a few words with the moron who was trying to bully (�the lockers don�t have your name on it mate�.. or words to that effect). Mum was a shaken up given the bully�s aggressive tone and attitude. I only wish I was on board with her at the same time.

For all the experienced flyers out there - what�s the right course of action here? Inform the CSM or equivalent?

Genius1

Sorry to hear of your mum's experience. In this situation, I would have had a few words with the passenger myself and explained that there was no room above my seat and lockers are shared, not individually assigned like seats. If I didn't feel comfortable doing this, or in the case of continued aggression by the other passenger, I would've reported to the cabin crew.

corporate-wage-slave

A bully does this because they can. A bully gets away with it by selecting their victim. If they tended not to get away with it, they would stop. If they do get away with it, unfortunately they are likely to do it again. I doubt he would see himself as a bully but that too needs to be brought home to them when it does happen. Usually if a crew member was brought in they would attempt to de-escalate the situation but they won't go along with the notion that anyone owns a particular overhead. So yes, ideally what your mother would have said is "shared space, kindly speak to the captain / inflight manager as to your options".

FlyingScientist

What a pity that the gentleman did not say "Sir, let me help you with your bag..." and then put his bag somewhere else

ACES70

As others have said you don't get a dedicated space above your seat for various reasons. It is frustrating when your bag is placed out of sight from your seat but this is usually down to some passengers taking far too much stuff on board. This is why some airlines make you pay for cabin bags.

passengers are expected to lift their own bags up but they can help find space and sometimes ask passengers to put bags under seats .

The passenger sounds like a he is used to getting his own way sadly

crazy8534

There wouldn�t be anywhere to put a trolley bag at your seat in a LH club cabin.

If I had witnessed the episode I�d have told the gentleman in question to find another space for his bag and to STFU.

disney20042012

How rude and aggressive, hope your mum is ok. As said above, just best not to get into an argument and refer to the cabin crew.

chuci

I'd have probably seen red if I saw someone bullying an elderly lady. The south london attitude would have come out of me.

What an absolute pr*ck. Hope your mum is okay.

Jason77W

In an ideal world, this issue could've been avoided if people have their own assigned bin space. But I completely understand this isn't practical thanks to (1) crew belongings and (2) nature of the seat config...

Barrheadlass

I’m an elderly lady like your mother and would have been really annoyed. I virtually never use overhead space, but keep reading tips about placing items in the bins across the aisle “ so you can keep an eye on them.” Am always wondering how that would go!

Tobias-UK

Do exactly that and if some oaf wants to make an issue tell him/her/it to talk to the crew about it. I can guarantee the crew will be on your side

PUCCI GALORE

This is appalling conduct. Not only was he he extremely disrespectful to an old lady but aggressive with it. I wonder if he would have dared to do this if this had belonged to a man. Your Mother should have gone and got a crew member and told them. She should not have engaged with him nor touched her things. Actually a dab of a hanky round the eyes would not have gone amiss. I am surprised that the crew did not hear all this kerfuffle and come and see what was kicking off. Were that my Mother - who unlike her daughters - was a lady to her fingertips would have had none of it. She lived through the Blitz so no jumped up little nobody would have cut any ice with her - but had I been there the fur would really have flown. I have said in similar confrontations in Sainsbury's car park in Esher/
"Do you think that she went through 36 hours of labour to bring me into the world to end up being shouted at by the likes of you" that usually stem the flow.

I can only tell you what I would do, and lament the nastiness to which you poor Mum, who appeared to be minding her own business.had to submit. Horrible man. I just pray that he picks on the right person before too long. I wonder if he is a Flyertalker rather than the Australian who was a true gentleman.

corporate-wage-slave

Oh forgoodnessake no no no! This is exactly the sort of thing that allows bullying, the narrative that women have a lower status, a weakness to the stronger gender. I'm no soft lefty Guardian reader (OK, I do read the Guardian) but this sort of self-sustained sexism needs to stop.

ba_cityflyer

Perhaps the gentleman was accustomed to only flying Lufthansa First, where each passenger genuinely does have a dedicated locker with their seat number on it�

PUCCI GALORE

Helen Gurley Brown, her disciples and followers would agree with you and in principle so do I- unlike you I, rightly or wrongly, am more for dramatic effect. He started bullying long before the poor soul opened her mouth.

He bullied her because he clearly had done so before. I read both the Grauniad and the Torygraph and the former I read about a month ago that most women believe that sexism still exists.

Anyhow - this is OMNI territory - the OP asked what she should have done. I gave an answer. I hope that she never ever has to endure such behaviour again on British Airways or anywhere else. Doubtless many would not agree with me - and I assure you that I would be choking with rage if that had been me.