My flight from hell happened on an overnight flight from Paris to Detroit. Before we boarded the plane my husband and I noticed a very loud, very disobedient young girl wreaking havoc in the terminal. I laughed and commented to my husband that with my luck, that child would be on our plane. Well, not only was she on our plane, she was seated directly behind me in coach class. This little girl was young enough not to be required to be in her own seat so she was seated in her grandmother’s lap.
From the minute the plane took off, this girl screamed and cried uncontrollably and constantly kicked the back of my seat. At no time did the mother, grandmother, or flight attendant attempt to quiet or control her. While her screaming was irritating to all on board, I was the unlucky one to have 8 very long hours of my seat being kicked. Before the flight had landed, I overheard the grandmother say, “The lady in front of us is going to want to kill us.” Yet at no time was I offered an apology.
Signed, Forget Paris
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I just don't understand that.
The child may have had autism, which would explain the tantrums, but they should have offered you an apology.
IF somebody has a disabled child, I expect them to know how to parent that child. A disability does not excuse bad behavior.
A disability changes everything. Sorry but parenting skills do not suddenly make a child with mental disabilities understand what is or isn't appropriate behaviour. Nor does it guarantee you can settle a tantrum, ever.
We seriously cannot pull that excuse out for every upset child. Yes people with disabilities exist, but so do monster children and bad parents.
These people should have apologized and made some effort to stop the bad behaviour. It's not always possible to quiet a tantrum, screaming during take-off for a child that young is perfectly understandable, their reaction to pain is to cry, they don't have other ways to better express themselves except crying. The seat kicking should have been stopped.
No excuses. Autistics need not be on a plane in that case. I would have wanted to kill the kid.
Agreed. An brief apology can go a long way.
it sounds like she recognized what an annoyance they were but was too embarassed to say anything.
Um, did you bother telling them to stop kicking your seat?