Originally Posted by
PTravel
First of all, I don't have to propose a solution. I'm not the one causing the problem. If you're causing a problem, you find a solution so that you don't impose on others.
However, I've suggested three solutions: book bulkhead seats, book first class, or don't fly with your child if they're going to kick the seat in front of them.
I book bulkhead seats when possible, but I don't always have the status to do so. Booking first class is out of my price range, and my kid
might kick the seat, despite my best efforts, but probably won't. But sometimes he will.
How about we look at this the other way around. If parents with children who need to fly want to let their kids kick the seat in front of them, they had better come up with a solution acceptable to the strangers who their imposition effects.
I have a solution that works for me. I make a reasonable attempt to stop my kid from kicking. It's about 99 percent effective, as observed in restaurants and other public places. The other 1 percent of the time, the other guy is going to get annoyed. If you want me to change my strategy, you'd better convince me to change, because what I'm doing is perfectly legal, ethical, and moral to me. I'm willing to have a discussion with you to minimize this even further, but if you can't suggest anything, nothing is going to change - regardless of how you feel.
Nope. This has nothing to do with whose interests "reign supreme." No one has the right to impose on others. Your interest in swinging your fist ends at the tip of my nose. This isn't a question of competing interests, but whether parents can impose on strangers as a matter of entitlement. The answer is: they cannot not. There is no such thing as a "right to impose."
Of course this is a matter of competing interests, and like most questions of this sort, it's a fuzzy line. I can't hit your nose with my fist, but can I stop 0.1 inches away? What about 1 inch away? 1 foot away? 3 feet away? Someone might get upset if I stopped my fist 5 feet away, but they're not going to get very far with their "right to impose" argument.
As a society, we require a reasonable effort be made, not an ironclad guarantee. Help me refine my current solution and I can work with you. Asking me to pay an extra $60,000 for your convenience ($300 cost differential to move to 1st class * 2 seats * 1% chance of misbehavior = 60k spent per kicking incident prevented) gets you laughed at. Perhaps if you wanted to pay for the upgrades we could work things out...