Originally Posted by
joedish
Don't try and turn this around on me. It's quite simple: any person without the minimum social grace to smile or say hi to a child does not deserve the privilege of flying on an airplane.
There's a big difference between being polite to a seatmate and what you originally advocated, which was smiling, cooing, reading, playing peek-a-boo, and "giving the parent a much-needed break."
Sometimes my plane ride is the only opportunity I have to do work or prepare for the meeting I'm en route to. That takes priority over babysitting.
That said, I won't ever be a jerk to my seatmate.