Apr

Are you a parent? Planning to become one? Continue reading…

I’m aware that there are parents out there who understand that the rest of us don’t appreciate the incessent wailing of your child, just as I am aware that flying isn’t pleasant for babies and small children. While those of you who do your best to keep your child from being viewed as a hellbeast by the rest of the world are greatly appreciated, this does not give anyone carte blanche to ignore said wailing and force the rest of us to fucking put up with it, under the guise of not being able to do anything about it or just something that comes with the territory of forcing small children to fly.

The young lady seated next to me has a daughter of about 16 months of age, give or take a couple. Her daughter is curled up on her lap, lightly snoring. Two rows ahead of us is an older lady, with a child who is about 2 or so and has been screaming his annoying head off for the last hour, disturbing not only all of us surrounding him, but also forcing the mom next to me to do her best to appease her daughter into continuing to sleep, rather than join in the cryfest. Her daughter wakes up every few minutes and whimpers, while her mother kisses her forehead, as a means of soothing and lightly rocks her. She goes right back to dreamland.

Now, why the fuck should the mom up front be allowed to let her child do his best banshee impressions, for the last hour straight, with no recourse? Why are people too afraid to say something? I promise you that the uncaring bitch ain’t doing shit to solve the problem because I can see her from here… nose in a book while her kid pounds on her arm, crying, throwing toys down on the floor…

If this discombobulating situation continues, I’m going to fucking scream, myself. I am suffering from a really bad allergy situation, complete wih asthma & a migraine, as well as a pulled muscle in my shoulder and an effed-up back. All I wanted to do on this flight was sleep, like the little angel next to me. Unfortunately, demon spawn up there won’t STFU and I only managed to drift off for about 15 minutes, while being bored by a documentary on the history of the bra.

So, what’s the point, you ask? Simple… if you can’t be bothered to pay attention to your child, especially when the sanity of others is at stake, don’t fucking have kids. Or at least don’t take them on flights with you until they’re old enough to buckle their own seat belt.

And yes, I am going to thank the mom next to me, at the end of the flight, for being such a good rowmate… the sad excuse for a parent is going toget an earful. If her bad manners contributed to my crankiness, she deserves nothing but a mouthful of sarcasm-laden vitriol before I head home.

(Thank goodness for wi-fi on planes or this rant would have had to stew for another 4 hours… and by then, may have ended in me scolding her while still in the air. Though, if that kid isn’t soothed soon, it may happen anyway.)