Originally Posted by
HedgeFundFlyer
The flyer on a plane, a public space, is responsible for opening up the possibility that he/she will have to deal with a kid -- or the host of other minor and major nuisances that make flying a quarter-step above riding the greyhound.
This has nothing to do with whether I might or might not encounter a kid. I don't care if kids fly, and I don't care if I encounter them, anymore than I'd care about encountering anyone else. Just don't kick my seat. Period. I don't know why this is so difficult for some people. You're not privileged to kick my seat. That's all there is to it. Don't do it. I don't care who you're flying with.
If someone is really so child-averse and gets so steamed up about their own personal, quiet peace and calm being violated (and, come on, you're on a plane afterall), it is equally up to that person to pay up to fly in the front. I do it when I just don't feel like dealing with the hordes on long flights. Or simply avoid flying publicly.
Nope. Nothing to do with being "child-averse." Don't kick my seat. I'm getting-my-seat-kicked averse. I don't care who's doing it -- adult or child. Don't kick my seat.
Importantly, it simply does not follow that a business man with a meeting (which, btw, is usually me when I fly) is in any position to pull rank on a family traveling with children and say that children should not fly but that he of course is perfectly entitled to it. I could equally say if someone is not able to calmly deal with the chance of discomfort due to the inherent loss of control in an airplane, don't fly.
I'm not pulling rank and you're making a lot of assumptions about why I fly and who am I. The one thing that I am not is someone who kicks someone else's seat, or imposes in any other way. Don't kick my seat. Don't impose on me. I don't care who you fly with or for what reason. Don't impose on my and I don't care if you fly with a herd of circus elephants. However, if you do kick my seat, don't, for one minute, think you're privileged to do so because you're flying with a kid.
The fact is parents have a right to fly with children. It's not illegal. And in the rare case of a truly spastic child, that's not illegal, either.
Of course parents have a right to fly with children. What they don't have is a right to assault the person seated in front of them. Don't kick my seat. Do you understand to what I'm objecting? Not you. Not your kid. I'm objecting to having my seat kicked. If you can't not kick my seat, you have no business flying.
I haven't heard anyone in this thread be hostile towards kids. I'm hostile to having my seat kicked. Have I been clear enough? Don't kick my seat!