Yesterday, a friend on Twitter showed me this article and asked what my thoughts were. Because it's kind of hard to say in 140 characters what I really think, I decided to blog about it.
A recent poll released by a travel website asked if people would like a 'family-only' section on flights. Almost 60% of the people who responded were in favour of a 'family-only' section. Another 20% said they prefer child-free flights. The poll was released after a 67 year old passanger on a Qantas flight sued the airline after a 3 year old screamed on her flight last year. The woman complained about pain in her ears. Cry me a river.
The idea of making a 'family-only' section on an airplane, to me, is laughable because HELLO - airplanes are SMALL. Even the biggest airplane I've been on is small. Noise travels. And children are not second-class citizens.
It's absolutely ridiculous to propose a 'section' for children. As if children are less important passengers than anyone else! (Wait. If my children can fly for free, I might be in favour of sitting in our own section. Now that's something to think about!)
I would like to propose another section - a section reserved for assholes.
For the people who give dirty looks to moms on planes who are dealing with a baby who won't stop crying. As if the mother really wants her baby to be crying! Trust me, as a mom I can honestly say it's not easy dealing with a crying baby on a plane. We want our children to be happy. We don't want our children to have sore ears, or feel sick, or get bored, while flying. We also *know* we are getting dirty looks from mean people who have never been in our situation before, and we have to deal with their attitude, too. Can't we all just get along, damn it?
A close friend of mine who has no children told me she once asked a mother to make her baby stop laughing because it was bothering her. I think I was in too much shock to answer her.
I'd also like to reserve a section for people who won't shut-up!
Just because I'm sitting next to you doesn't mean I want to talk to you. Stop it with the small talk. If you see me nodding, and looking disinterested, it's a pretty good sign I don't want to talk to you. I'm nervous enough flying and thinking of ways to stay alive in case the plane falls out of the sky, that I really don't want to hear about how much fun you had on your vacation or if I know Bob from Toronto because I live in Canada.
And how about another section, for people who take their shoes off and have smelly feet? Disgusting!
Or... how about a section for people who fall asleep and snore really loudly? Surely we don't all have to be subjected to that annoying sound. Making a section for people who snore makes sense, right? What? You think those people would take offense to that?
My children travel by plane often—my 2 year old has been to Florida twice, to Bahamas, and to Washingon D.C. My oldest son, who just turned 5, has flown even more, and is a better flyer than most adults I know. I have no terrible experiences about flying with my children, except the time I flew alone with them and had to use the washroom, bringing both boys with me into the already tiny room. That was not fun.
I bring a carry-on filled with items to entertain my boys on flights—lots of snacks, DVD players, games, Play-Doh. I do whatever I can to keep my boys happy, entertained, and quiet. I am respectful of other passengers, always. But sometimes my children will cry or yell or do things that children do. And there is nothing I can do to change this. Even before I had children, I would smile at the parents who were trying to console their crying baby. Rather than give dirty looks, how about offering the parents a hand? Ask to hold the baby, smile, play peek-a-boo... that's so much more well received than giving dirty looks.
Chances are, a 'family-only' section on airplanes is not going to happen. The logistics behind that are too difficult, and flying is already hard enough.
If you don't like children, too bad for you. Put your earplugs in, have a glass of wine, and relax. And if I happen to walk by miserable you and my baby throws up on you, you sort of deserved it.
A recent poll released by a travel website asked if people would like a 'family-only' section on flights. Almost 60% of the people who responded were in favour of a 'family-only' section. Another 20% said they prefer child-free flights. The poll was released after a 67 year old passanger on a Qantas flight sued the airline after a 3 year old screamed on her flight last year. The woman complained about pain in her ears. Cry me a river.
The idea of making a 'family-only' section on an airplane, to me, is laughable because HELLO - airplanes are SMALL. Even the biggest airplane I've been on is small. Noise travels. And children are not second-class citizens.
It's absolutely ridiculous to propose a 'section' for children. As if children are less important passengers than anyone else! (Wait. If my children can fly for free, I might be in favour of sitting in our own section. Now that's something to think about!)
I would like to propose another section - a section reserved for assholes.
For the people who give dirty looks to moms on planes who are dealing with a baby who won't stop crying. As if the mother really wants her baby to be crying! Trust me, as a mom I can honestly say it's not easy dealing with a crying baby on a plane. We want our children to be happy. We don't want our children to have sore ears, or feel sick, or get bored, while flying. We also *know* we are getting dirty looks from mean people who have never been in our situation before, and we have to deal with their attitude, too. Can't we all just get along, damn it?
A close friend of mine who has no children told me she once asked a mother to make her baby stop laughing because it was bothering her. I think I was in too much shock to answer her.
I'd also like to reserve a section for people who won't shut-up!
Just because I'm sitting next to you doesn't mean I want to talk to you. Stop it with the small talk. If you see me nodding, and looking disinterested, it's a pretty good sign I don't want to talk to you. I'm nervous enough flying and thinking of ways to stay alive in case the plane falls out of the sky, that I really don't want to hear about how much fun you had on your vacation or if I know Bob from Toronto because I live in Canada.
And how about another section, for people who take their shoes off and have smelly feet? Disgusting!
Or... how about a section for people who fall asleep and snore really loudly? Surely we don't all have to be subjected to that annoying sound. Making a section for people who snore makes sense, right? What? You think those people would take offense to that?
My children travel by plane often—my 2 year old has been to Florida twice, to Bahamas, and to Washingon D.C. My oldest son, who just turned 5, has flown even more, and is a better flyer than most adults I know. I have no terrible experiences about flying with my children, except the time I flew alone with them and had to use the washroom, bringing both boys with me into the already tiny room. That was not fun.
I bring a carry-on filled with items to entertain my boys on flights—lots of snacks, DVD players, games, Play-Doh. I do whatever I can to keep my boys happy, entertained, and quiet. I am respectful of other passengers, always. But sometimes my children will cry or yell or do things that children do. And there is nothing I can do to change this. Even before I had children, I would smile at the parents who were trying to console their crying baby. Rather than give dirty looks, how about offering the parents a hand? Ask to hold the baby, smile, play peek-a-boo... that's so much more well received than giving dirty looks.
Chances are, a 'family-only' section on airplanes is not going to happen. The logistics behind that are too difficult, and flying is already hard enough.
If you don't like children, too bad for you. Put your earplugs in, have a glass of wine, and relax. And if I happen to walk by miserable you and my baby throws up on you, you sort of deserved it.
Comments
I'm guessing that flight attendants and other passengers would much rather deal with a bored child than a drunk and abusive passenger, or one so terrified of flying they practically climb into the lap of a stranger for some small turbulence (that happened to me -- suddenly a stranger was clawing my arm and hyperventilating -- not cool...).
Kids are not evil. They are not something you suffer through. They are people and should be treated like people. Especially mine because I make them say please and thank you and won't let them kick your seat, so don't be glaring at me for having the audacity to bring my children on vacation with me.
HOWEVER... there is a big difference between a crying child and an unruly child that parents refuse to control. Allowing your brat to kick the back of my seat or pull on my headrest or throw stuff at the back of my head or run up and down the aisles is NOT acceptable. Flying is bad enough without having to endure such behavior.
To Dave's point, there's a big difference between a child and a brat, but that's not limited to planes. It's annoying in restaurants, theaters, malls, on sidewalks, in my own home, etc. Most kids are not brats, and just because some are doesn't mean all kids should be treated like brats.
Kids have to travel too, any parent or grandparent knows this. Why people don't understand it is beyond me.
When I travel by myself I always try to accommodate a mom or at least give her a smile and let her know I've been there too. I've traded seats with buttheads as well, not for their benefit, but for the mom (plus it makes the butthead look even more like a butthead.)
My mom was the woman who would tell people to leave a restaurant if their child wasn't behaving, this struck so much fear into me for so many reasons.
That being said, as parents we have to be prepared to entertain our kids. That is our responsibility, if we're actively engaged? We're not doing anything wrong if our kid is still pissed off.
I still remember a guy that told his kid to "shut up and watch Dora" on a long flight, he brought her no headphones, no toys for when electronics couldn't be on and he didn't engage with her at all. Those are the ones that cause the stereotype.
Sorry, this whole thing hit a button, I am with you 100%, I would rather by flying with my daughter at any age than a sweaty and/or drunk guy who can't shut his yap.
I love that there should be a section for assholes!!! How about a section for people who have BO? Yukk!!!
And screaming infants aren't fun to sit near, but neither are obnoxious adults.
I just think I should get a special section and everyone else should sit at the back of the plane. That's right - I'm Rosa Parking everyone.
And on the kid thing, like Dave said, kids will be kids but the ones that are out of control and the parents do nothing? Yeah, it's just like any place where children are and they aren't behaving. I think it gets under people's skin more on an airplane because there is literally no where else to go. Not saying they should be jerks about it. Just guessing that may be a reason why people get more agitated.
Anyway, my kids are always perfect so it's not an issue.
(totally kidding on that last part...) ;)
However, I do see the merits of a special section.
When my son was born, I worked for CineBabies, a company that partnered with Famous Players Theatres to have a Moms-&-Babies showing every week of new release movies. (This was before FP stole the idea and put CB out of business. Sorry, some bitterness there.)
Every Wednesday, we'd have a special showing in a baby-friendly environment -- lowered sound, some lights on (so moms could feed their babies), and several tables in the lobby with free diapers so moms could change their babies.
Moms really appreciated this because they could enjoy a movie without having to feel embarrassed or constantly apologetic to the non-parents in the audience. EVERYONE there had a baby so no one cared about the crying or otherwise disturbing behaviour.
So, in a special section of a flight, I could be all "don't look at me because my kid's talking loud -- your kid's been kicking my seat for hours!" :)
While I would love to be on a flight dedicated to just families, the reality is I'd settle for someone to just offer a hand. Or better yet, acknowledge when my kids ARE well behaved.
I just flew this past weekend and everyone was super nice, both fellow passengers and flight attendants. Even the poor guy who had his seat kicked more times than I want to admit. There are nice, understanding people out there.
I'd like to sit in a snore-free zone, and far away from the person that takes up two seats, but you have to make do with who you sit next to.
I'm lucky as my 2 year old is a great traveller, probably because she's been on planes since she was a few months old. However I do think some parents let their children run riot and even as a mum myself, that can be very annoying. There's plenty of things you can do.
http://21stcenturymummy.com/2010/06/04/top-tips-for-stress-free-flying-with-babies-and-young-children/
This made me think of this post! Absolutely agreed - I always feel bad for the poor crying baby (in pain) and the poor frazzled parents!