Airplanes are strange places.
You’re stuck in a small space with dozens of people you don’t know, and sometimes those people do things that make you wonder what happened to basic manners.
Country singer Jessie James Decker recently found herself dealing with a particularly unpleasant situation mid-flight.
On October 29, she shared an Instagram video showing a smelly bare foot appearing right next to her seat.
Her video soon sparked debate among social media users over whether she went too far or did exactly what the situation called for.
“The nerve of some people!” one commenter wrote.
A woman shared her bizarre experience after a fellow passenger’s “smelly” bare foot appeared on her armrest
Jessie James Decker shared the unusual moment with her 4.4 million Instagram followers.
In the video, the singer covered her nose as a bare foot appeared beside her airplane seat. She then sprayed the foot with what looked like a spray.
“Someone’s foot smells so bad on the plane,” text over the clip read.
Decker knew her response might get people talking. In the caption, she asked her followers, “Before you come at me… What would you have done?”
The comments quickly filled with people sharing their opinions.
Many had little sympathy for the person whose foot had apparently made its way into Decker’s space.
“I’d do just what you did!!! Spray the stinky foot!!!” one person commented.
Another user felt the situation deserved an even bigger response, writing, “They should’ve been escorted off the plane.”
A self-described former flight attendant also shared their thoughts on passengers who put their feet on airplane armrests.
“As a past flight attendant, when I saw people put their feet on the armrest, I immediately told them no, this isn’t their home,” they wrote. “Respect the plane & people around you. That is so F in nasty.”
The commenter even admitted they would have had a hard time staying calm, adding that they would have “smacked his foot with my elbow.”
However, not everyone believed Decker had actually sprayed a stranger’s foot.
A few detractors had an entirely different theory about the foot in the video
Several people wondered whether the foot actually belonged to Decker’s husband, former NFL player Eric Decker.
The couple has been married since 2013 and has four children: Vivianne, Eric Jr., Forrest, and Denver.
“Please tell me that’s Eric’s foot and not some random person’s foot!” one person commented.
“I’m guessing that’s Eric’s foot? You are far too sweet to do that to a stranger…” another follower wrote.
“That better be your husband. I would’ve moved!” a third added.
One person was convinced it was a joke between the couple.
“You’re being silly, right? It’s your husband behind you,” they wrote.
Since Decker didn’t reveal whose foot it was, the mystery remained unsolved.
“Tickle tickle!” one person suggested.
“I would’ve pulled out … [a] Sharpie and started drawing,” another joked.
Decker isn’t the only traveler who has had to deal with someone else’s feet during a flight
Back in March 2026, a frequent traveler shared a frustrating experience on Reddit after a woman sitting behind them decided their armrest would make a great footrest.
The incident happened on an American Airlines flight, and the traveler said it was the first time they’d dealt with feet in their face in five years of frequent travel.
“First time experiencing the feet in my face in 5 years. Travel monthly. In first class and this lady put her feet on my armrest, I shoved them off,” the Reddit user wrote.
The flight lasted four and a half hours, making the situation even more irritating.
According to the traveler, they initially turned around and asked the woman to move her feet. When they got no response, they decided to make their point another way.
“When they were on my armrest, I turned around and asked her to move them; no response, so I aggressively put my elbow on my armrest,” they explained.
The message seemed to work, at least for a moment.
“She removed them,” the traveler wrote.
But the woman soon found another place to stretch out.
The Reddit user said she put her feet up by the window a couple of minutes later. Eventually, she pulled the window blind down and removed her feet altogether.
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“Maybe she has Reddit haha,” the traveler joked.
The comments showed that plenty of people understood their frustration.
“Freaking gross. Ask her to move them and let the FA know,” one person wrote; another called the behavior “disgusting.”
“There is something wrong with people’s basic societal interactions in today’s world!” another commenter added.
“Perfectly reasonable to stand up and say something,” one more netizen wrote. “If there’s confrontation, that’s embarrassing for her, not you.”
“Oh that should be illegal,” wrote one netizen
