Babies Should Not Be Allowed On Planes - Page 3

Not sure what you mean by "other systems." If someone is funky of foot or braying drunken laughter all over the cabin or paying no attention to the kid wailing or seat-pounding next to them, I support a rule that allows the flight crew to step in and ask them to shape up. I support icy stares from other passengers. Of course, I'm the guy who's always quick to say "Don't worry, I'm sure someone else will get that" whenever a smoker pitches a butt on the sidewalk, so I'll likely be shot one day soon. But I try to act civilized in public, including on planes, and expect others to do the same. The alternative is...well, pretty much what a lot of society finds acceptable today. There, you made me sound like a curmudgeon. I hope you are happy.

I don't know why I get sucked into these trolling threads anyway. My bad.

Tell me about it. I am not what I would call muscular, but I do have shoulders, more then a inch wide. I mean I got a beer guy right now, but it is not that big. I wear the XL shirt for my neck and shoulders.

I dunno, man. My wife and I don't have kids, but a shit-ton of nieces and nephews, and we're ALWAYS the ones traveling across the continent to see the parents with better sense than to drag their cabbages to see everyone else. I like to think all my traveling is benefiting a plane full of adults somewhere. You're welcome.

No they are an ever expanding majority. Entitled ass-holes are creating entitled ass-holes and a burgeoning pace. I wish I had a dollar for every inconsiderate parent I have encountered. The ones who march their spawn in those giant 3-abreast strollers taking up the whole sidewalk or those who let their children run amok in restaurants with no thought to the safety to their children or to the safety others. I bet these folks would be the first to sue if their precious would cause a waiter to trip and a plate of food landed on their sweet little noggin.

This. Three years ago, I was flying from New York to San Francisco, and this asshole couple and their two kids were sitting behind us. One of the kids was quiet, the other one was fussy. Asshole dad decides to do this irritating, high-pitched, makes you want to beat someone Mickey Mouse voice to get the kid to stop crying. Well, not only does the little darling stop crying, but now she, AND her sister, who was at least quiet, are now shrieking and screaming - literally- with laughter. And let me tell you, the shrieking laughter, combined with the father continuing the fucking Mickey Mouse voice to keep them happy was as bad as crying, I don't care what any parent says. And this was the whole flight, shy of the last two hours, when the girl sitting next to me finally turned around and told the father to cut it. And guess what happened? The whole fucking annoying family managed somehow to shut the fuck up for those last two hours! Now you mean to tell me that this douchebag couldn't have kept them quiet before that? Of course he could have - he just chose not to. He chose the asshole's way of keeping kids entertained. It's the "I'm sure everyone will agree that the sounds of happy screaming are much better than the sounds of crying, and they won't mind a bit" train of thought, rather than make the effort to keep them quietly entertained.

Great example, but are you implying you can calm kids on demand? If that's the case you could make a lot of money as a babysitter.

Fact is, many times is not as easy as it sounds. I'm all for parents trying to clam down their kids, but I get the impression people here have almost no real idea of the problem at hand. And if your response is, it's not my fault ... then again just buy some headphones.

In that particular example? Damn right that's what I'm implying. That's what the father did. He clearly had some way to shut the kids up for the last two hours of the flight, right then and there, the moment the girl sitting next to me turned around and told him to keep it quiet. He never even attempted to calm things down in a quiet manner prior to that, but he did it instantly when he saw that other people weren't having it.

Well, a lot of people had to put up with you and me and everyone else here as kids, too.
I agree on the fact that parents have an obligation and a responsibility to do their absolute best effort to keep their kids from annoying other people, but this also applies to pretty much everyone else who is annoying another person in any other way...hell, by your principle a lot of people shouldnt be subjected to your nerd baiting, fundamentalist-like opinions or my crappy retorts to them.
And we need kids on every generation, Devin, if only on the basic, logical "keeping the species alive" sense.

I have this glorious ironic image of Devin ending up fused at the molecular level with a crying toddler in his torso, Kuato style.
Thank you, Ratty.

Gotta love CHUD's smart ads. This was at the bottom of this thread.

What we have here are the obvious symptoms of the same problem:

1) People who feel children are imposed on them.
2) Parents who do not feel accountable for the comfort of others.

Both are clearly selfish positions. Child-rearing and personal accountability are both necessary parts of a healthy society. What ought to occur is this:

1) People are enthusiastic that the next generation is sharing a plane with them.

2) Parents feel personally responsible any discomfort the behaviour of their children might cause.

That being said, I think we can safely categorize modern society as a failure on account of narcissism and greed; and thus, given the circumstances on a flight, I see no reason not throw the literal baby out with the proverbial bathwater of civility.

Maybe the crazy bitch leaning over the seat in front of them put the fear of God into the kids.

Eek, uncalled for.

Hey, it was the girl sitting NEXT to Lisa. I've never called Lisa a "crazy bitch" so far as she knows.....

*rubs his eyes, blinks in disbelief, looks closer*

All parents should listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA_XMaTYqSs

Oh, yes, of course. I forgot - the only reason the little angels stopped their joyous screaming, directly behind us in coach, must have been because the mean lady was just so frightening that they stopped. Right, I'm sure. For your information, she very politely and in an even tone of voice, asked the father to please quiet his kids down. But please, keep trying to make it the fault of everyone else on the plane. I'm sure my seatmate must have been in the wrong here instead of the parents and the kids. Whatever version of events makes you feel better.

Let me ask you this - what if it had been an adult screaming directly behind you for four hours of a six hour flight? Would that have been okay? Of course not, you'd have told him ten minutes into the flight to can it. So why is there this carte blanche when kids do it? And I don't want to hear this bullshit about "oh, they're just kids, they can't help it." Whether or not they can help it, in the event that the parent can't get them to shut up, it's still fucking annoying. And it doesn't make anyone who doesn't enjoy having someone scream in their ear a bad person "who just doesn't understand." Quite frankly, I think these people who nod and smile when a kid is freaking out need to have their heads examined.

I don't care if you think I'm clever or not. Please continue bitching about simple things.

I demand that every source of annoyance be removed from my life immediately. I refuse to learn how to deal with things that are beyond my control. Everyone must conform to how I think things should be done, and if they disagree, they are uncultured troglodytes who should have all their rights and freedoms abridged, because I say so. Because, really, I know better.

Dickson, you selfish hateful bitch.

Very nice, Jake, very nice.

If the parents really weren't seriously trying to calm their kids down, then she was probably correct to do that. But yeah, they probably quieted down because they were either extremely scared or embarrassed. Even if she asked politely, having a stranger basically tell you (as a child) to shut up can be very intimidating.

So you don't make a clear distinction between a baby, a toddler or small child version a non-retarded adult? Really?

You can be annoyed all you want, but you'll have a better life if you accept some things are out of your control and sometimes you just have to put up with them. We've already listed many things you, as an adult can do. However, some of you just give up and rather whine about like petulant children instead of preparing yourselves better for flights.

I saw the most considerate parents in my last flight to India take very good care of their baby, but occasionally despite their best efforts, the baby would cry! It was a 14+ hour trip, luckily we didn't have any whiners in the plane giving them bad looks or telling them to "shut up" their baby. I get the point, some parents are not considerate, we can all agree on that. But the people who have to really have their heads examined are the adults who can't cope with children, and specifically refer to your children as "your fucking spawn".

This is wrong on so many levels. I've been on several flights, and I was inconvenienced, what, twice by a baby, and only for a few minutes. Assholes, however, are numerous, and out of those 200 so called "considerate, thoughtful fliers", there at least a dozen of them selfish people who won't give a fuck if they reclined their seats enough to annoy you or keep kicking your seat. And they might have kids too. Or a car, and they cut you or take a parking spot.

I have a baby, and while it restrain me from living like 3 months ago, I won't skip over visiting family in Europe because you don't like it. I'm responsible enough to prepare for the flight, but I won't ship the baby in the cargo section just to please some people who can't deal with an aspect of life itself. Just get a private jet.

Enough with another one of your bait thread.

Isn't that what they are, in the most literal sense?

Capitan, it's clear you're just here to shill some noise-reducing headphones (that somehow also drown out the sensation of a cognitively-disadvantaged youngster kicking the back of my seat), so just paste the link and be done with it!

I just think if the worst annoyance in your life is a crying baby, count your blessings, get over yourself, suck it up and be an adult.

Seriously, I know we're supposed to disagree with what Devin says on these threads be you're not making any sense.

YOU decided to have a baby. YOU should be the only one inconvenienced by your baby. I don't have to accommodate you in the slightest if I don't want to. And don't kid yourselves. A tiny amount of the people dragging their infants around the world have to. The rest could easily say: "Sorry, I can't fly over here, my baby is 3 fucking months old."

I'll preface this by saying, I haven't brought my 16 month old on a plane, though that's more out of poverty than consideration. If I did, I would do everything I could to be a good parent. However, it's amusing to no end to imagine Devin on a plane near a crying infant; His Ipod, Laptop, and personal recorder (all with headphones) sitting next to him on his 45 minute flight. Rather than use any of these simple conveniences of life to make things infinitely more tolerable for himself, he fumes, so that he can complain about it. I'm sure that's not the case, I'm sure he plugged his headphones into his iPhone, and went about his business, and is cackling over all the responses in his bait thread, but it's funnier to imagine him in less control of his emotions than the offending baby.

Ludicrous. This is the most unsupportable assertion made in this thread, if only because it's so broad.

It seems that you can't cope with reality.

Do you people really travel at all, I like how in that previous post you moved the goal post and now made it about children kicking your seat. In all my flights, most of the time this has happened is because of some inconsiderate adult doing this, or another person in the front reclining his/her seat with no regard for the people around them.

But no, what really bothers you is when the children do it!

Stelios, avoid any public transportation. Or any public space. Because it might have some BABIES! Seriously, I know it's annoying, but like I written above, there's so many other things that can annoy someone, in a closed space like a plane out of all things, that bitching about babies on it is ridiculous.

Why? Outside of common courtesy what should compel me to? And if you're not extending any courtesy towards me I'll certainly won't extend any towards you.

Ludicrous. This is the most unsupportable assertion made in this thread, if only because it's so broad.

Fuck me. Three pages? Seriously?

How about smelly people? Did you ever travel next to a smelly person? They shouldn't be allowed on a plane. Ever.

That was me, not him. Just so we're clear, I hate any disruptive behavior by anyone on any plane. The frustration with the kids is that it's not their fault - not their fault they're crying, not their fault their fussing and kicking, not their fault they're on the plane to begin with. I'm enduring it because some adult thought this was a good idea, when in reality it's a miserable goddamn experience for every last person involved -the kid, the other passengers, and the parents.

I'm not calling for legislation, but maybe parents should reconsider the old-time elegance of railway travel.

EDIT: To Stelios.

You have two options:
1) You have an irrational hatred of children. In that case, you're irrational, and we don't have to have this discussion.

2) You apparently don't realize that, by choosing to go out in public, you're deciding to open yourself up to the inconveniences created by other people, in exchange for the benefits afforded by human interaction. We ALL agree to accommodate each other because the benefits created by putting up with minor inconveniences far outweigh the annoyance. The fact that you act this entitled kinda suggests that you're the kind of person the rest of us have to put up with just to get on with our days.

Yeah. And we're lucky the In Bruges thread go to 2 pages, but Devin is a master of the bait thread.

YOU got on a mode of PUBLIC transportation. YOU have no control over who uses it. If the company providing the transportation is willing to accommodate them, you have no real say in the matter beyond choosing not to use that company.

I'd pay extra for an adults-only airline. No lie. Not only would the kids be removed, but the Disney-bound throngs and wide-eyed first-time tourists who drag those kids and who just don't know how to travel would also go missing. Just a plane full of jet-setting go-getters, ordering drinks and shooting the shit in the lounge area. Mmm.

Wouldn't first class be a pretty safe bet then?

Same.

"Your in-flight movie will be 'Nuts in Butts Vol. 12', and the scantily-clad flight attendants will be around shortly to serve bourbon and steak...even to the dipshit who brought his kid on board."

I think Hooters has an airline.

Absolutely not. I'd say I see a kid in first class roughly 30-40% of the time. And half THAT time, they're unaccompanied minors, sitting up there so flight attendants can babysit them.

Show me where I said that, Cap. Go ahead, twist around what I'm saying because deep down you know I'm right. Not once in my post did I say that I can't tell the difference, so nice try. I'm talking about the NOISE, and how idiot parents are under this constant assumption that it's absolutely okay if it's a baby doing it. That people will understand, it's just baby, oh, look he's so cute, etc.

Oh, and these magical noise-cancelling headphones you keep saying everyone should invest in? Here you go:

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-noise-c...ng-headphones/

Can we all, collectively, send that $350 to $400 bill to you since you think we all should have these? Or would it be cheaper all around to just make more of an effort to keep a kid quiet?

Now, I would NEVER let my kid fly alone on a plane, at least not until I was comfortable leaving them home alone. And even then, I'd have to think real hard about it.

Lisa, I've got a pair of $10 headphones for my mp3 player than can drown out all the noise at my gym.

If you know you're going into an environment where there are likely to be annoyances, you take steps to shield yourself from them. You don't refuse to get an immunization because you think you shouldn't have to be around sick people.

Plus, I don't think any rational person would advocate against trying to quiet their child. Note the word rational, which is an important distinction. Oh, and Phil, I honestly did not know that. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever flown on a plane that had a first class to begin with. I've only seen the hollywood version.

The Hollywood version of first class (I always think of the one in Midnight Run) has a second floor and stuff. I'm still waiting for that one.

REBBER!