My father sent me a link to this article today with one writer's take on kids on planes.
"There is a notion, reflected in numerous blog comments about the incident, that other passengers should "just deal" and "give a kid a break." This notion is wrong. Parents like Root and others who selfishly force the rest of us to pay the cost of their choices in life aren't just bothering us; they're stealing from us. Most people don't see it this way, because what they're stealing isn't a thing we can grab on to, like a wallet. They're stealing our attention, our time and our peace of mind."
It must be sweeps week because this blog post on kids in fancy restaurants also appeared this week in SFGate.
I think posts such as this are designed solely to get people to leave comments (one of the more useful web metrics for engagement.) It's like religion -- neither party is going to change (well, until they have kids.)
I think that parents should control their kids during the flight (especially during preparations for a departure) and that it's not wrong to eject a passenger with a uncontrollable child from a flight if the plane has not taken off yet. At least, I believe that until I am forced to spend the night at O'Hare. I also think that it's the flight attendants job to do more to help passengers with children and offer assistance or suggestions before asking a passenger to leave a flight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
ben and i would be ejected mid-air every time. never mind, the cheerios incident while still on the ground in kauai.
to vicky ...I'm talking uncontrollable and disruptive. Knowing Ben, I don't think he's capable of being ejected. Not to mention those big eyes....
while ben might be an "easy" baby, he's still a baby, and he gets nuts on airplanes. half the people feel sorry for me and try to help entertain him, and half give me the evil eye. (funny how the latter half often has the extra seat next to them that i lack.)
i think that flying with a toddler or mobile baby is inherently difficult. tough if you don't like it. those of us with little kids still need to get from a to b, and telling me to drive across the country with my toddler is a big joke.
restaurants i can understand. i have no desire myself to pay for an expensive meal while juggling ben. a good metric is whether they have high chairs.
nonetheless, even at a supposedly family restaurant in maryland, they had no changing table, so the waiter told me to use the bathroom floor. gross! if he lies on it first, then i'll think about it. so, i used a bench in the waiting area, and he refused to get me a trash can. juggling a baby as a single parent is hard enough without kid-haters around. (to be clear, this was not a high end restaurant. it's Amalfi's in rockville, md)
Post a Comment