Young Turks: Passengers Push For Kid-Free Section On Flights

[CherylK]

Run time: 03:56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbTC9y-YXPE   Posted on YouTube: November 20, 2010 By YouTube Member: TheYoungTurks Views on YouTube: 14628   Posted on DU: November 23, 2010 By DU Member: CherylK Views on DU: 803

 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/travel/14babies-journeys.html

[SoCalNative]

1. Kid-free sections?

I vote for kid-free flights, period.

[monmouth]

2. You and me both. I fly tomorrow and pray no kids on flight...n/t

[SemperEadem]

7. amen!

[Charleston Chew]

3. Democratic Underground?

You people will submit and post just about anything.

[liberation]

4. "you people" ???

I take you are partial to the selection from newsmax, LOL.

[Pryderi]

5. How about Kid-Free sections in restaurants?

[dencol]

6. The airlines don't care.

I used to work for a major airline and the kids of senior employees would get first-class and business seats before I would as an employee with less seniority. Not only would it tick me off since I actually worked for the company, but then the first class passengers and business class passengers would have to deal with unruly kids in areas their companies paid extra for - so they could work during the flight.

[SemperEadem]

8. aside from Ana's silly question--yes, it can be enforced

why would it not?

A plane would have a certain number of seats available for family travellers. If there were no seats, then book an earlier or later flight. Very rarely are reservations made spur of the moment when lugging children around--very rarely. So it's not like it's the last plane out for the rest of eternity when it's a vacation being planned. Funerals/emergencies are different circumstances.

And her example was weak--the elderly/"obese" are adults and don't get up and run and scream and whine and kick the backs of seats in front of them. They know how to release the pressure in their ears. Children cannot be expected to act as if they are tiny adults because they aren't. The airlines need to wake up and re-examine how they seat children and families, with all the drama that brings when flying, so that the experience for EVERYONE on the plane isn't painful... because little crying kids bring the pain.

No one wants to hear a screaming, crying, bratty kid who won't sit down and stfu, nor do they have tolerance for their belligerent parents who feel that everyone should have to share in the misery of their child's travel experience and their obvious poor planning for their children.


As a parent, I would be pretty annoyed if I were forced to take an 8 a.m. flight instead of one at noon.”

As a passenger, I would be annoyed if I was forced to sit next to your screaming brat while you just whistled "dixie" and looked out the window, acting like you didn't bring the kid on the plane with you. As a parent, if you needed to take the only flight out and it was at 6am, I'll bet you'd have your ass on that flight with your kids in tow, so don't even start with that weak ass argument.

“They need to respect that this may be someone’s family vacation, or someone may be going to their parents’ funeral,” Mrs. Clowers said.

It ain't all about you, boo.

Respect is a two way street, missy. You and your child need to respect that not everyone wants to watch your poor parenting skills played out while they're a captive audience and don't want to know that much about you. There is a lot parents can do to prepare their children for taking a plane ride and it's obvious by how their children act out that they don't bother to do anything until the kid starts causing problems. I've flown with my daughter when she was small and took the time to make sure she had what she needed to make the flight a good one for both of us as well as those around us.

I guess I didn't take the selfish route when planning the trip, thinking everything is only about me just because I had a small child with me.

[Atypical Liberal]

9. The lack of compassion and empathy in this thread is astounding.

I swear, you'd think this was a right-wing web site from most of the responses so far. How about a little empathy and compassion? You know, those things that Progressives have in spades over other people?

I've got kids. I've got a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old. I've flown with them once, and fortunately, they were well behaved. But I have been on flights with parents with crying kids. Had one just last month. The poor mom was holding and bouncing the baby, and trying to hush her, to no avail. The baby was not happy, and when babies aren't happy they cry. And there is very little you can do other than try and comfort them. You certainly can't punish them into not crying. You can't reason a baby into not crying. Like Cenk says, that's life.

But here's the thing - most parents are VERY VERY aware of the problem. They want more than ANYTHING to make their baby be quiet. It's no fun for mom and dad when a baby is crying, believe me. When you realize that you are now annoying everyone inside the tin can, it's even worse.

Very few people want to take their kids on an airplane ride someplace. If the kids are in tow, it's because they could not make arrangements to leave the kids behind, or the whole point of the trip was for the kids to come along (vacation, visit family, etc.).

When I see someone on a plane with a crying child, my first emotion is sympathy.

We could use a little more in this world I think.