Children kicked off airplanes for crying too loud? How spoiled are we Americans going to allow ourselves to become? Recently on a short flight my 16 month old cried and fussed off and on for about 40 minutes of the trip. I pulled out everything in my arsenal to calm her but to little avail. After the flight, when she was running around the terminal, a couple stated that the baby looked happy now. I said, “yes, and I think that I need a drink”. As they walked off the man looked at me and coldly said, “I was thinking the same thing”.
If the idea of travel by flight is all about personal comfort I see no end to the limitations they could enforce. What about the slightly overweight man spilling just a little into my seat (“my personal space”), or the two ladies talking so loud that everyone can hear their conversation, or the guy killing his ear drums with the volume of his ipod, or the woman crying on her way to a funeral?? I’m sorry, are we going to ask all of these people to de-board the plane and try flying again when they lose weight, learn how to use their “inside voices”, get better sound proofing ear buds or get over their emotional issues?
Not only is this issue ageist but it is ridiculous. Since when do airlines advertise a nice, relaxing, uninterrupted flight? I think we all need to take a deep breath, pass on a little grace and just simply get over ourselves. The world as we know it will not end if we have to listen to a child crying for a few hours. Or better yet, why not get out of your seat and offer a hand, it’s called kindness.
