Originally Posted by
greg99
Well, you're the one who said that you weren't "sure why your child would rank, say, above my mother (if I was traveling with her)." Since you said you didn't understand why traveling with children was different from traveling with able-bodied adults, I was attempting to help you understand.
That may have been your intent, but a condescending way to do it. You are talking about traveling with children as if it is outside the realm of understanding of people who don’t have children. It is not brain surgery or performing a spacewalk. Most people without kids “get” it is a hassle and entails extra work and coordination – this is not hard a hard concept to understand. My point is why should your children trump my family / friends / co-workers in regards to boarding.
Originally Posted by
greg99
So, putting aside what seems to be an anti-"breeder" philosophy (which often seems to be at the heart of these sorts of threads), my point wasn't that parenthood was necessary to understand why traveling with young children was more difficult than traveling without children, but it is sufficient to understand.
I traveled without children for many years, including in the pre-GS 1K days, and I certainly took pity on parents who had to schlep gear down to the plan, and didn't bemoan the fact that they were boarding before me, when I would otherwise be the first person on the plane.
I would say my philosophy is more “anti-entitled parents with children” then “anti-children”. Again, my issue is the entitlement many parents with children feel that they should get to board early or other such considerations.
Sorry friend but having kids does not mean people without kids need to bend over backwards or make considerations on your behalf. Maybe I’m just an a** but I do not feel that sorry when I see parents having to schlep gear and other child related hassles – they did CHOOSE to have children, right?
Originally Posted by
greg99
Or, alternatively, that means that they didn't start the pre-boarding early enough.
That could be true.
Originally Posted by
greg99
No, you make a fair point - I don't have data suggesting that preboarding is more efficient. The airlines don't generally publish that sort of data.
That said, while I acknowledge the importance of data in decision making, I would also suggest that you consider the conclusions drawn by the authors of this meta-analysis:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC300808/
Greg
Not sure where you are going with this. I do not need proof or “data” as I said for all things in life, but if the best people can give is anecdotal examples of family first boarding working better for everyone I would challenge that.
PS - Happy Thanksgiving!