brian wrote: ↑Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:39 am
I think "kid crying on an airplane" is the one stereotypical non-parenting situation that I have the most empathy for. I've flown probably close to a million miles in my life and it's never a good time, but I realize people have to occasionally take kids on flights and kids of a certain age are just going to not want to deal with that experience (on top of the physical issues with flying that babies/toddlers are not experienced in dealing with).
I'm not saying I don't secretly wish the damn kid would just shut up already, but not sure what a parent is supposed to do in that situation other than try to soothe the child as best they can. It's literally the one situation that a non-parent should be able to understand since almost no one enjoys the experience of flying these days (or shouldn't unless you're some kind of maniac or can afford first class).
My silent judgment/hate is reserved solely for people who don't seem to give a shit what their kids are doing in public settings (and even then I'll give people a little bit of time to figure out what's going on -- you can't eagle eye your kids 60 minutes out of every hour -- I get that too). But if you're just not giving a fuck and sipping your chardonnay while your kid is running around a restaurant willy-nilly for 15 minutes straight without any kind of an admonishment to settle down then fuck yes I'm going to judge you.
1) Little kids often have fucked up inner ear issues while that complex mass is still developing. Or their sinuses are fucked up. Kids cry during take off and landing, quite often because they are in physical pain. I once was flying to SFO and had no issues the entire flight (I was 15 at the time) but when we descended, something in my septum was fucked up and I've never been in so much pain before or after. Hot needle into my cheeks.
2) I once had to fly down to meet my wife in FL, she was at a conference so I was solos. My boy was just not having it and he was crying pretty much the entire flight. I actually have almost a condition where crying babies drives me a little crazy, so having my son losing his shit for a 2.5 hour flight was torture. Here's the thing: Multiple passengers tried to help soothe him, as did the staff. I was almost in tears and everyone around me were incredibly sympathetic. It would've been a NIGHTMARE if I'd had a bunch of assholes making it worse.
3) Noise-cancelling headphones are one of the fucking greatest inventions in the history of air travel. Even if the baby crying seeps through, it's literally barely background noise. It's almost like a super power at that point.
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Now, back to plane specific hatred and judging. Cross country flight, family of 4 gets on sits behind us. Kids are about 3 and 5... They need to be tended to. This fucking mom and dad brought ZERO for these kids to do. 5+ hour flight. They were screaming and banging on our chairs and THE WORST.
So, sorry, I'm gonna judge the fuck out of them in that scenario.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.