I was flying home with my husband, Alton, after a nice week visiting his parents. I couldn’t wait to sleep in my own bed. He joked about how much he missed our shower and its amazing water pressure, and we both laughed.
Once we were seated on the plane and the engine hummed to life, things started smoothly — until we noticed the woman right behind us. She had her bare feet up touching the back of my husband’s seat. She wasn’t shy about it; she was chatting loudly with her friend, completely oblivious to how rude she was being.
Alton first tried to handle it politely. “Could you put your feet down?” he asked. No reaction. She laughed and kept them right where they were.
He asked again, firmer this time. Still nothing. It was clear no amount of niceness was going to work. Alton finally got up and brought a flight attendant to address the situation. She spoke to the woman, and for a moment it looked like maybe things would change.
And the feet did go down — briefly. But as soon as the attendant walked away, her feet went right back up again. That was the last straw. I looked at Alton, and he knew I was about to do something I’d later admit was pure petty Crystal.
When the drink trolley came by, Alton ordered a gin and tonic and I asked for water. I slowly opened the water — then, without a sip, tipped half of it onto the woman’s bag that was tucked between her seat and my husband’s. She didn’t realize what had happened yet, but her friend stared wide‑eyed.
Then I took the rest of Alton’s drink and aimed it directly at her feet. Her seat jerked, she jumped, and finally, she pulled her feet away and kept them off the seat for the rest of the flight.
She was furious — yelling at us, calling us rude — but the petty part of me smiled and acted innocent. By the time we landed and got off the plane, her bag was wet, her glare could have melted steel, and I felt satisfied. Alton just laughed and hugged me, saying he hadn’t seen “petty Crystal” in a while.
In the end? Sometimes a little revenge — tiny, petty, and perfectly executed — makes a point worth making.
