An Aeroplane Experience

[XtreO]

Just a few hours ago I took the speed boat into Bodø, a small city in the northern regions of Norway. Pleased with another idyllic postcard summer in a 100-inhabitants island cluster off the coast I was in a very good mood, and set sails to be some officer's toilet washer for a year in the Navy.

Arriving at the airport, which I've always wondered why is so close to the city centre though today concluding it's because it was a smaller city when it was made and it's one of few flat palces in those parts, I notice many women and children. Many children. Small children. I am fine with children, though they look scary when they are infants, we get along fine.

This did not worry me very much, and I sat down near the gate with my laptop and watched the second half of Sweeny Todd. It is a brilliant movie, though I guess Jhonny Depp isn't the greatest singer in the world. When the battery run dry, it was only on 25% to begin with, I noticed said mothers and said small children - on the gate I bound to enter.

Oh cool, I think, in the aeroplane, having an aisle seat behind the wings, yet not so far behind the noise from the jet engines boggles your ears. Then the plane takes off. And the small children starts an uproar. They screamed and screamed, as if they hadn't been fed for the third night running. But guess what. And you did not see this coming - I am fine with that. Babies scream. They can't talk, and when we would loudly swear, they would scream. But the mothers, just sat there. Caring as much about their babies cries as Mao cared about small birds. This annoyed me countless times more than the teensy tiny bit the babies annoyed me. The self-righteous look on one of the mothers faces, their mind being adamantly set in the mode of "babies cry, **** off and deal with it".

When they gave birth to that baby, I thought, shouldn't they be mainly concerned with his or her well-being? Shouldn't at least that mean they give the baby at least a miniscule bit of attention when he or she is in discomfort? Futile it would be, one could argue. To that I say, damn right, it would be a futile attempt. Hugging the baby and giving it a pat on the back could hardly take away the ear-pain they suffer due their inability to even pressure. But I am positive said mother would hug and comfort her child if they were in a sinking ship, and the pressure was rising, and not sit idly by thinking "I can't do anything about it, so I won't". That mindset can hardly be called a winning one for that matter - I am sure the world would be a less advanced one if everyone thought "that can't be done, so I won't try".

So please, those with babies. At least pretend you care. Everyone can, or at least should, be able to cope with a crying baby on a plane. But parents not at least trying to do anything about it are far more annoying that that. It's all about apperances. As one teacher put it, this being what I remember best after thirteen years of education - øyet skal ha sitt (the eye needs to see the best (or something not quite along those lines)).

[PSPookie]

Traveling, especially flying, with infants is hard. Having said that; most of the time infants cry on takeoff and landing because they are unable to normalize the pressure in their ears. Giving them a bit of bottle or a pacifier usually corrects that.

IMO/IME it is a parents job to try to make their young child as comfortable as possible while traveling and to minimize the impact of said kiddie traverse on other passengers.

[Relic]

Well, about the only thing I can say is that a crying baby isn't always one in pain. Since they cry over anything and everything as a form of communication and as an attention-getter, sometimes NOT reacting is a way to teach them that is not a time to cry.
It'll make sense when you're a parent.. until then - øyet skal ha sitt!

Just to add though - of course when a baby is in pain, he or she should be comforted, but as far as I know, you're not supposed to be holding a baby when taking off or landing - they should be secured in their carrier-seats, no?

[MJ5150]

I agree. Crying is fine, but the parents who act like nothing is going on irritate me.

I spend a lot of time on airplanes, and this is near the top of the list of my irritants.

-Mike

[Marco A. Mayer]

Get good headphones like this:



I can't travel without noise-cancelling headphones because of my lack of tolerance.

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by Relic

Well, about the only thing I can say is that a crying baby isn't always one in pain. Since they cry over anything and everything as a form of communication and as an attention-getter, sometimes NOT reacting is a way to teach them that is not a time to cry.
It'll make sense when you're a parent.. until then - øyet skal ha sitt!

Just to add though - of course when a baby is in pain, he or she should be comforted, but as far as I know, you're not supposed to be holding a baby when taking off or landing - they should be secured in their carrier-seats, no?

You've got a point. It's really a situation-by-situation thing.

Since most children under 2 will be traveling in their parent's lap (without a ticket) they typically won't be in a carrier seat.

[john turner]

having already come out of the closet, i am guessing you will never have to deal with this issue yourself, so there is that at least.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by john turner

having already come out of the closet, i am guessing you will never have to deal with this issue yourself, so there is that at least.

HA HA!

[XtreO]

I saw that coming, you know

[FREAKYSTLYEY]

[quote=PSPookie;9451659
Since most children under 2 will be traveling in their parent's lap (without a ticket) they typically won't be in a carrier seat.[/QUOTE]

bit off subject, but how DO you fly with an infant? I know your not allowed to just place them in your lap.

I actually saw one guy put the seatbelt around him and his baby, before take off the steward made him remove the kid. If the plane stopped all his weight would have been on the poor kids waist.

[john turner]

Originally Posted by XtreO

I saw that coming, you know

heh. yeah, i figured you probably would have been

[guitar ed]

In the US, kids under 2yo can fly in their own seat on their parents lap. Parents choice.

edg