Air Rage

[Marseeya]

Interesting article in last month's Parenting magazine:

http://www.parenting.com/parenting/article/0,19840,1201347,00.html

 

[jjan]

Thanks for the laugh! That was funny

 

[tessqt]

Sounds like the couple that sat in front of us on our trip to WDW in December and like the young woman on the way home. I posted about it here and I removed the post because it was getting out of hand.

The writer is a woman after my own heart, I wish I had thought about annoying things to do but since it was just a 2 hour or less flight, I just kept my ds's feet as still as possible.

Made me laugh, thanks!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

The "speaker" in the article was most at fault, but no more so than a tall person whose knees brush the seat in front.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

I'll be gracious and answer any and all PM's from those who cannot access, can't read between the lines of, or simply don't wish to click let alone read, the article referred to.

 

[BonnieA]

Well I don't care for anyone kicking my seat either. But I thought the article was hilarious.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I thought the man whose seat was being kicked had every right to complain and the author of the article (who took more than his share of pillows and blankets, allowed his child to bother another passenger, and devoted the flight to "getting even" with the complaining passengers by aiming air vents at them, etc) was the one at fault. What's so funny about someone behaving like a 2 year old and then bragging about it?

 

[AllyBri]

I guess it's just me, but I never found the humor in that article.
Children do learn what they live and sadly they won't learn much from a parent like that.

 

[hamlet35_2000]

Mom is not a good parent teaching here children that the way to get things in life is to get back at people. Mom seems to need a parent to tell her to grow up.

 

[tjmw2727]

I have been on both sides of that situation and I still find the article a bit sad. I understand its hard to keep a kid from kicking but punishing the person who is annoyed isn't going to help.

When my kids were little I found my energy better used by playing hand games with my dd's, offering unusual snacks, activities and distractions. This works much better than spending your energy punishing your neighbors. I hope the article was meant to be funny but I didn't personally find it humerous. All that time and energy focused on complete strangers woudl likely have been very appreciated by her children.

Ideally we always sat 2/2 with the "potential kicker" behind me or dh. Having traveled extensively as the solo adult with my 2 dd's I understand the moms situation and inability to do that, but again - I focus on my family and let others be.

After the first kick a quick apology with an offer to do the best you can with the situation would have likely worked better than a snippy remark and then a plan to aggravate your felllow travelers. I have always felt that we are a group of people in a small place for a few hours and you just do your best to deal with it.

TJ

 

[froglady]

As the mother who once travelled with a vertically challenged toddler who had to sit cross-legged or on his knees from Denver to Atlanta, because if he sat with his legs straight his feet kept touching the back of the reclined seat in front of him, "kicking" it, I perhaps feel a bit more sympathy tpwards the writer than the rest of you. Yes, she was wrong to behave the way she did, but it's also frustrating to keep a child from sitting in a normal position on a flight because the man in front of him wants to be comfortable.

Of course, his wife glared at me if I so much as crossed my legs, lowered the tray table, or took a magazine out of the pocket, which had the same effect as "kicking" the seat. At least they were consistant.

The fault lies with airlines who cram as many people as possible onto a plane because customers are more interested in cheap flights than comfort....until they actually get on the plane.

 

[Marseeya]

The whole article just left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe there was nothing that could be done about the tot, but the people did nothing wrong other than to complain about it, and that deserved the harrassment of the lights and cold air???

Then again, if the man and woman were in the exit seats -- there are usually only two seats there, right? So why couldn't the author have moved his toddler to the seat where he wouldn't have been behind another seat to kick? Problem solved.

I guess passive aggressive harrassment is just too satisfying.

 

[tjmw2727]

The whole article just left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe there was nothing that could be done about the tot, but the people did nothing wrong other than to complain about it, and that deserved the harrassment of the lights and cold air???

Then again, if the man and woman were in the exit seats -- there are usually only two seats there, right? So why couldn't the author have moved his toddler to the seat where he wouldn't have been behind another seat to kick? Problem solved.

I guess passive aggressive harrassment is just too satisfying.

Good point, they already had extra legroom so no need to recline, IMHO. And yes if there was any way to move the kicking toddler I would have. Another thing we did to help the seat kicking was to remove the shoes, this helps more than you would think.

TJ

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Mom is not a good parent teaching here children that the way to get things in life is to get back at people. Mom seems to need a parent to tell her to grow up.

The article's author was DAD. I like to think that Mom would not have been so aggressive in harassing the couple in front.

I don't understand why Parenting magazine even published this. Is this how they think a parent should act? The author is a complete jerk.

 

[dudspizza]

I am curious, has anyone clicked on the "email" link at the bottom of that article? I almost did and then let it go.

I can imagine it would be frustrating to do all you can to stop your small one from kicking the seat in front of you, but you have to do whatever it takes!

Duds

 

[MinMouse]

After reading the posts, I just had to go check out the article. I can understand the Dad's frustration and was amused by his antics but they were in poor taste. On our recent flight to WDW the man in front of my DD8 kept lurking around and glaring at her. She was sitting with my parents; DH & I had DD11 in our row (for fairness we switched for the return flight, of course!). I couldn't see that she was doing anything objectionable but probably chatting the entire way with grandma and checking out the cool snack tray. She's also a tall girl so no problem with her legs being too short to bend at the seat. We usually drive to WDW so the flight was a treat! She was so excited and a little nervous about the flight. I think when flying in/out of MCO you have to expect some children to be aboard. The author in this article (Dad) didn't do anything to help ease the situation for sure ---- probably made it worse for the next poor kid that rides in the seat behind this couple!

 

[AlexandNessa]

The title of the article is "Air Rage: What happens when it's the grown-ups who are behaving badly."

What was the point of the content of the article though? The author made it sound like air rage is OK and justified? Is he including himself in the "grown-ups behaving badly" part of the title?

I, myself, found Robert Wilder to be a smug parent who acts like his kids' stuff doesn't stink.

OTOH, Parenting.com also published this more reasonable article about flying with kids:

http://www.parenting.com/parenting/article/0,19840,1093832,00.html

 

[RickinNYC]

I thought the article was pretty darn funny. Fortunately, I was able to see the humor that the writer was trying to convey and didn't take every work literally.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Sorry, I just don't find boorish behavior amusing. To each his own, I guess.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Yet ANOTHER reason why we almost never fly---