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Crying baby, screaming passenger
Last week, was on a late flight from DEN-MKE, with an ETA 01:30AM (90 minutes late). Shortly after takeoff, a baby in a row behind me began crying. Mom, several months pregnant, was begging her lap-baby to quiet down; "matthew it's time to be quiet..." etc. After several minutes of unsuccessfully quieting the baby, a young woman (maybe 18 or 19 years old), unrelated to the mom, turned around, and facing the mom and baby shouted, "SHUT UP MATTHEW!" in a screaming voice that could be heard throughout the CRJ. Matthew did infact shut up. Meanwhile, others on the plane could be heard sighing in disbelief of the young girls uncalled for response.
Then, 30 minutes before landing, Matthew starts crying. This time, the girl grabs her bag from under the seat, and rushes toward the front of the plane, obviously upset by the baby. Although she was trying to move to an empty seat in the first row, her mad rush to the front of the plane was certainly alarming in itself. The FA blocked her and firmly told her to return to her original seat - no seat changes. The girl stomps back and throws her bag back under the seat. Baby still crying.
Girl turns around again, and screams, "SHUT UP" in a voice loud enough that woke up everyone on the plane, and prompted the captain to inquire with the FA what was happening. It was very awkward for everyone. I certainly didn't want to cause an argument with this girl mid-flight and I had no idea if she was mentally unstable or just a spoiled brat.
Few minutes later, FA walks over, "who is screaming?" Girl admits screaming. In a firm but soft tone, FA says, "stop screaming. shut your mouth. if you don't shut up, I have ways to shut it." The girl shut up.
Upon deplaning, I felt compelled to speak a few wise words to the punk girl. She had not apologized to the pregnant mum, the FA, or any of the other passengers on the plane for her outburst. But, as I started talking to the girl, she stuck her fingers in her ears and said she didn't want to hear anything from me or anyone else.
Am I wrong for wanting to see MKE police show up and take her off the plane in cuffs? (this did not happen).
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Sounds to me like the FA handled it perfectly and it didn't escalate beyond that, so why involve the PD? Some people go thru life that way, and hopefully learn about patience and respect somewhere along the way.
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Am I wrong for wanting to see MKE police show up and take her off the plane in cuffs? (this did not happen).
IMHO you are.
Why?
What did she do except screaming out loud, what evetually quite a few people might have thought.
A screaming baby can be annoying. But it´s a baby and everybody has to accept it. Why is it so unacceptable if an adult starts screaming back?
In regards to manners and such; she was off but in no way shoudl anyone be arrested for that. And also why should she listen to a, or a couple, of strangers?
As a mom of a 7 month old, this is my fear that I would disrupt other passengers if my son cried. We have since traveled and he is great (knock on wood that it remains). I would have loved to see that young lady in cuffs, but she didnt seem to break any laws. However I would RATHER karma get her (triplets like pp suggested). I feel bad for the mom of the baby. Poor thing.
A screaming baby can be annoying. But it´s a baby and everybody has to accept it. Why is it so unacceptable if an adult starts screaming back?
In regards to manners and such; she was off but in no way shoudl anyone be arrested for that. And also why should she listen to a, or a couple, of strangers?
Well, I think it's unacceptably rude behavior, but I don't think it's reason enough for arrest (what's the charge? Speaking louder than a certain level of decibels?). My preference would be for the FA to report this customer's behavior to someone within UA who could then send her a nice letter explaining that the behavior is unacceptable to UA and that they would not let her fly UA again if there is a repeat occurrence.
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Yes, her behavior is unexcusable, disruptive, and even potentially dangerous. I don't condone it in any way.
I have, however, sometimes thought and felt what she so rudely said.
At the risk of being excoriated on this forum, I've often felt that any plane in the air at, say 2am-3am should ban infants except in emergencies. I often wonder what parents are thinking-- do they really believe junior will sleep all the way through the flight?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikensf74
Am I wrong for wanting to see MKE police show up and take her off the plane in cuffs? (this did not happen).
Oh please. There are enough FAs (at every carrier) who abuse power and laws out there. Laws and law enforcement personnel are out there to keep planes safe from terrorists, not for the whim of FAs and/or inconvenienced passengers.
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I always love this conversation (and btw I think the girl had chudspa that a lot on the plane were just thinking not saying/acting on). Why is ok for the mom to let her baby cry and disrupt the plane full of people but it wasnt ok for the young adult to act EXACTLY the same way the baby was????And please don't bother with the "the baby isnt old enough to know better" answer. The baby's MOTHER is old enough, a loud disruptive cry is just as annoying no matter its source.
Adults withouot self control shouldnt be let on planes, children whose parents cant control them shouldn't be let on planes!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by notquiteaff
Well, I think it's unacceptably rude behavior, but I don't think it's reason enough for arrest (what's the charge? Speaking louder than a certain level of decibels?). My preference would be for the FA to report this customer's behavior to someone within UA who could then send her a nice letter explaining that the behavior is unacceptable to UA and that they would not let her fly UA again if there is a repeat occurrence.
Will the mother of the child who was keeping everyone up also get the same banishment?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikensf74
After several minutes of unsuccessfully quieting the baby, a young woman (maybe 18 or 19 years old), unrelated to the mom, turned around, and facing the mom and baby shouted, "SHUT UP MATTHEW!" in a screaming voice that could be heard throughout the CRJ. Matthew did infact shut up. Meanwhile, others on the plane could be heard sighing in disbelief of the young girls uncalled for response.
to her.
The second time around was a little much (IMHO) - just turning around and glaring at the kid might have been enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lehava
always love this conversation (and btw I think the girl had chudspa that a lot on the plane were just thinking not saying/acting on). Why is ok for the mom to let her baby cry and disrupt the plane full of people but it wasnt ok for the young adult to act EXACTLY the same way the baby was????And please don't bother with the "the baby isnt old enough to know better" answer. The baby's MOTHER is old enough, a loud disruptive cry is just as annoying no matter its source.
Adults withouot self control shouldnt be let on planes, children whose parents cant control them shouldn't be let on planes!
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I, for one, have no problem with screaming babies as long as their parents are trying their best to keep them quiet. What annoys the heck out of me is when parents just let their babies scream, making no attempt whatsoever to get them to quiet down. Babies always scream, it's the way the parents deal with it that makes the difference. I would have had a few choice words for that girl...
Will the mother of the child who was keeping everyone up also get the same banishment?
No. From the OP I understand that she did try to quiet the baby. Your question seems to imply that there is a fool-proof way of accomplishing this. So what exactly was she supposed to do? Wrap a blanket around her baby to shut it up?
to her.
