It shocks me how many adults out there don’t like children. Even when I was a bachelor, traveling the world solo every week, I don’t ever recall getting extremely upset over a crying baby on the plane. And believe me, I’ve had flights, including recently, where a baby cried the entire time. RELATED: Should Airlines Offer Kid-Free Flights?
Yes, it’s super annoying but it’s a part of life – especially in this day and age when air travel is often inexpensive and a necessity for many families. Smart travelers come prepared by packing a pair of 50 cent earplugs and noise cancelling headphones, and loading their phone with soft music to help them sleep. RELATED: 10 Tips For Better Sleep on a Plane
But what a passenger did on a recent Southwest Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale was over the top. In a three-minute video posted on TikTok, which you can watch here, a passenger seated in row 10 not only started yelling that a baby had been screaming for 45 minutes but he wouldn’t stop swearing.
The two flight attendants in the aisle tried to get him to calm down and lower his voice but it didn’t work. They did go through with their promise to have the passenger met by police on arrival. The plane diverted to Orlando; it wasn’t clear if it was because of weather or the passenger but either way, they deplaned him. The passenger refused to get off and the pilot made everyone get off with their belongings so it was a real pain for everyone.
If this man had only come prepared instead of adding to the problem, he wouldn’t have been escorted out of an airport he had no intention of visiting. I wouldn’t be surprised if SWA bans him for life.
I fly regularly with my kids and for the first time, my three-year-old daughter started crying on our Newark to Los Angeles flight a few days ago. Our flight had been delayed by two and a half hours so our long travel day became even longer. When she started crying mid-flight, out of nowhere, sounding like a newborn, my wife and I panicked. We had no idea what was going on. We first felt terrible for her because something was wrong but we also felt bad for all the passengers around us since many were sleeping.
My wife couldn’t console her so I took her and bounced her gently on my shoulder, whispering, “It’s okay, it’s okay.” I asked her if her ears hurt but she said no. We think it’s because she was overly tired from the long day of travel and she had been sick a few days before. Or maybe she was having a nightmare and waking up in an unfamiliar setting scared her. Fortunately, after five to 10 minutes, she fell back to sleep but I can’t imagine how the parents of the screaming child felt when a fellow passenger started screaming at them. I understand the frustration when parents do nothing to try to settle their children down but most parents are doing everything they can and a little compassion can go a long way. You can’t exactly reason with a baby.
Surprisingly, the top comments on the video were mixed. Some people actually thought this guy was a hero.
Here are some of the comments:
Cece
I love this guy they need to give him a yr worth of free flying made my day….. NO-F giving 😂😂😂😂😂 you are yelling SO IS THE BABY 😂😂
Raphaël Château
He speaks on behalf of many many many of us who are not commenting here today. Especially when parents try NOTHING to quiet down their baby.
Koko Luca
People this irrational need to be banned for life from every airline.
Jason Bowman
Put him on the no fly list. These disruptions are getting out of control.
As a woman named Cyrina commented, “if a person has that big of a problem with a crying baby they should have rented a car and drove, took bus or train.” Or fly private.
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A simple fix for parents whose child is crying because of ear pressure pain. As adults, we understand what’s happening and how to balance ear pressure. Little kids don’t. The fix? Smarties, yes the little semi-sour candy. When kids suck on them it relieves ear pressure and because it’s all powdered sugar if swallowed body heat melts them before a child can choke.
As my father used to say, “if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.” This situation is ripe with immaturity and self-centeredness. Not only did the man lack the equanimity to deal with a mildly unpleasant situation but he selfishly added to it—causing great inconvenience to everyone on the flight. Imagine, if this man lacks the problem solving skills to cope with a little unwanted noise in a confined space, how can he possibly manage real adversity in his life when it arises?
He is right, and those parents did end up shutting their child up. All he did was yell, big deal.
He was 100% right. 45 minutes of a screaming child?? There is nothing worse than an unruly child with parents who have become desensitized to the horror of that scream. No one considered what was going on with the gentleman.
I don’t blame the guy. There’s nothing like the sound of a screaming baby that goes in for hours. The should have adults only flights.
The guy finally lost it but the root cause is 2 adults not doing anything about a crying baby
I understand his issue with the mother not making any attempts to calm her child. I have really bad anxiety when I take my kids some where and I can no longer I go to the car to calm down and listen to music in the car. If I was stuck on a plane and this was happening and headphones didn’t work, I would start to break down and than see if I can be moved to another seat or the child moved. People must understand that the mother is to blame her for her lack of control of her child. It is not the publics job to hear a screaming child.
When my son was little before we flew, I would go to my doctor and get a mild relaxer that he would take once we were on the plane. It worked for him.
I have been on flights where kids have little fits. 45 minutes is a ridiculous amount of time to listen to a kid scream. Some parents do not have the decency to get their kid under control. A flight attendant should have intervened and offered the woman a place in the galley to console the kid. Or perhaps up in the cockpit so the flight captains can get the full brunt of what passengers deal with when some person has no idea how to control or placate their child. Some parents also do not smell how foul their kids dirty diapers are to the rest of us and do not dispose of them in tightly knotted plastic bags. I say the parents of the kid are the problem and the airlines for not recognizing they need to step in past a certain point. It is unfair to those of us who make educated choices regarding our children.
People keep saying she wasn’t trying to calm her baby which is highly unlikely. No parent wants to listen to their child cry anymore than anyone else. This guy was totally out of line and I pray to God he doesn’t have any kids and never does because he is not equipped to have children or grandchildren. What an absolute jerk. I wonder how many times as a child he screamed and cried in a grocery store when he didn’t get what he wanted. Heck even as an adult he’s screaming and crying.
I agree with the gentlemen ,a baby crying 45 minutes insane .I suggest preparing for your trip noise canceling head phones exchange seats
Take a drink calm yourself .
Parents it’s about to be vacation time
Prepare your children for the trip be considerate of others .
We don’t know why this man reacted the way he did. It’s possible he was a veteran or suffered childhood trauma. Either way it’s not fair to have anyone listen for 45 minutes to a screaming child. The parent needed to be more responsible and plan for every possible scenario. Maybe he overreacted but we don’t know what issues he was dealing with.