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It is all about YOUR ("your" as in everyone) comfort, your space, your way of doing things, your this and your that. It is about the individual not the group-I completely understand that is mostly the norm in this culture. It is pretty much all about the self. I can not say what a parent could have, should have done when their child is crying during a flight because all circumstances are extremely different. But I can put myself in their shoes and feel sympathy and if I can will chip in to help out instead of judging. But that is just me because I let myself love my neighbor, ESPECIALLY when it is a child. And all I can say is that I am so glad I have that ability and feel very blessed to see the innocence and helplessness of a child, no matter if a parent is present.
I just endured a horrific southwest airline flight filled with screaming crying kids who would not shut up. All the mother did was "shhhh". Does that qualify as sufficient these days? What obligation do these parents have for the other passengers? Or do they? Should they leave the kids at home?
I'm going to presume this is a reliable report in its details. Presuming such:
"...the mother..." implies one woman with multiple kids.
"...all the mother did..." implies only one action taken.
"....was 'shhhh'..." implies the kid was not an infant.
If that is the case, I would expect the mother should have been doing more.
I was once on a military chartered Australian "Flying Tiger" 747 from San Francisco to Manila. It was an 18-hour flight. These military charter aircraft were specially configured: The seats were set tighter than usual even for coach, and it was all-coach all the way to the very nose of the plane (where there were two seats facing the bulkhead), and totally filled. IOW, the airframe was packed with as many human being as possible.
Because this was specifically a flight intended to move families, it was definitely child-heavy and there were at least fifty children crying at any one time the entire 18 hours. Probably the second most miserable flight I'd ever taken on a non-military aircraft (I think an Air India flight I once took ran a close second).
But I'd certainly expect to see a parent making a constant attempt to calm a crying child.
Needing to relocate out of country? Should I just leave my kid behind?
Having to fly last minute to get home to a dying family member ASAP, and with no option to leave the child behind.
There are a lot of reasons parents fly with children that don't involve frivolous trips to Disney.
The majority of kids on planes do not need to be there.
That said, when we relocated, the first thing we did was to find and vet emergency child care. What would you have done if you had been in an accident and hospitalized?
First you say screaming, crying kids, and then you say non stop talking. It's not like the mother was in a movie theater or church where she could remove the child. Where were the flight attendants? Whenever I've flown and a child was beside him/herself, a flight attendant was there to offer some juice or cookies.
I'm guessing you don't fly much. These days the FA's generally don't do much above what they are required to do.
Quote:
It's hard to draw a conclusion to bad parenting on just one flight. This flight could have been a family emergency where mom threw things together and grabbed the kids w/o thinking of having anything on hand (snacks, books, small toys). How do we know that this mom is distraught and flying home to a sick family member or worse, a funeral? How do we know this obnoxious child (to you) isn't going to see a specialist for a certain sickness or disorder that he/she may have? What has happened to compassion in this day and age?
Seriously? Even if it were a family emergency, she should have had HER KIDS in the forefront and taken the time to have things along to keep them entertained. When you become a mother, being a mother is your #1 responsibility, above parents, spouse, siblings, and anything, EVERYTHING else.
Ad far as a disorder, if a child has a condition that won't allow them to fly without disrupting an entire cabin full of people, the parents should make other plans. The ADA calls for reasonable accommodation, it does not call for allowing a child to create chaos on an airplane.
It is all about YOUR ("your" as in everyone) comfort, your space, your way of doing things, your this and your that. It is about the individual not the group-I completely understand that is mostly the norm in this culture. It is pretty much all about the self. I can not say what a parent could have, should have done when their child is crying during a flight because all circumstances are extremely different. But I can put myself in their shoes and feel sympathy and if I can will chip in to help out instead of judging. But that is just me because I let myself love my neighbor, ESPECIALLY when it is a child. And all I can say is that I am so glad I have that ability and feel very blessed to see the innocence and helplessness of a child, no matter if a parent is present.
Yup, you help out and next thing you know, some psycho parent is saying you inappropriately touched their kid, or the kid pukes all over the suit that you are wearing to the important meeting as soon as you get off the plane, etc. Like I said, if you can't handle them, don't have them. I only had one for that very reason. It allowed me to be a better parent, as I was able to give and undivided attention to that child.
I'm guessing you don't fly much. These days the FA's generally don't do much above what they are required to do.
Seriously? Even if it were a family emergency, she should have had HER KIDS in the forefront and taken the time to have things along to keep them entertained. When you become a mother, being a mother is your #1 responsibility, above parents, spouse, siblings, and anything, EVERYTHING else.
Ad far as a disorder, if a child has a condition that won't allow them to fly without disrupting an entire cabin full of people, the parents should make other plans. The ADA calls for reasonable accommodation, it does not call for allowing a child to create chaos on an airplane.
I do fly quite often, so don't guess me. I try not to judge someone so fast. I wasn't there, only reading what the OP wrote. I try to give people the benefit of doubt, not be the almighty, perfect parent that you obviously are. If the child was just talking non-stop as OP later mentioned, I don't see where that is causing chaos.
I do fly quite often, so don't guess me. I try not to judge someone so fast. I wasn't there, only reading what the OP wrote. I try to give people the benefit of doubt, not be the almighty, perfect parent that you obviously are. If the child was just talking non-stop as OP later mentioned, I don't see where that is causing chaos.
As I've said SEVERAL TIMES in this thread, if the child was talking using an inside voice, I don't see the problem and think the OP needs to get over it.
I have common sense, something which seems to be quite lacking with many on this thread.
That's funny. I was having the same thought ... mostly about one poster in particular.
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