Pet Peeve: Passengers who disrespect others when sharing an enclosed space (airplane cabin, train compartment, bus, waiting room, etc.).
Yes, that includes parents. ESPECIALLY parents who do not recognize their child is not the only passenger on the plane.
Parents and kids have a bad reputation on planes. It is a small percentage of parents who ruin it for the rest of us by:
- not parenting their child in flight.
- expecting others (passengers and flight attendants) to care for, hold, entertain, or otherwise contribute to the happiness of their child in flight.
- not preparing a child for flight
- not packing the carry-on to provide for the child’s hunger, thirst, sleep, boredom, or health needs in-flight
- not respecting that fellow passengers may not like kids, not want kids, or may just be on vacation FROM the kids.
Do I sound like a scrooge? Let’s be honest. Kids will cry. Kids will have melt-downs. Parents may even cry. The key to resolving crying on a plane is to be prepared to address the needs of the crying child. But a parent who does not “parent” on planes is inexcusable. I realize as I type this those very same parents most likely are not reading a site like this – and so all I can assume is that the responsible parents will feel better about themselves!
When people hear I am a travel expert on traveling with kids – they assume I would support these non-parenting parents just because they are parents and just because the child is adorable.
This basic respect is required from ALL passengers. The business traveler needs to recognize some passengers are on vacation and happy to be away from work. The bachelor party travelers need to recognize the flight needs to be G rated in language and behavior. The ecstatic couple headed for a honeymooning tropical vacation may be seated next to a grieving passenger flying to attend a funeral. Same destination – very different reason for traveling.
We all must share the same enclosed space, let’s respect that.
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