chicaloca453

My mother was taking my 4 year-old niece to San Francisco to visit my brother. Seated in 15A and B my mother and niece had the most bizarre experience in flight. The woman in 14A slapped my niece's hand and her foot during the flight. It seems my niece got one of the personal TV screens that stuck and the woman got mad because my niece was "banging on her seat" so she took it upon herself to administer discipline.

After reading the blog posted on FT the other day about kids acting bratty on planes, this really got to me. The kids in the blogs were truly unruly. My niece has been flying since she was a lap child, and she's very well behaved on airplanes. She's not one of those jumping on the seats or running in the aisles, but even if she were it is not a perfect stranger's place to discipline her for it, especially physically.

I've been on my share of airplanes, and I've had the disruptive child near me many times, but never once have I considered smacking a kid or even laying a hand on them period. So I don't know who this woman thinks she is, but she's very lucky I wasn't on the plane because I would have demanded the police be brought on board before anyone left to have her arrested just to teach her that what she did was not appropriate. If my niece was bothering her that bad, she should have told my mother and had my mother handle it. She said nothing to my mother.

To make matters worse, my mother told the flight attendant and the flight attendant just said "oh well."

Now I'm not on here saying my niece is the perfect child and how dare you accuse her of wrongdoing. She's a child, and children do misbehave and need correcting but as the adults in her life, we will take care of it thank you very much. According to my mother she was just pushing on the touch screen (which was sticky and required hard pushes to work) trying to find Elsa, and with a sticky touch screen that has to be pushed hard to work the issue could have just as easily been caused by an adult.

What I will say is HOW DARE YOU A PERFECT STRANGER TAKE IT UPON YOURSELF TO SMACK SOMEONE ELSE'S KID WITH THEIR GUARDIAN SITTING RIGHT THERE? I don't know who she thinks she is, but she crossed the line, and if she's reading this, then I want her to think twice about doing it again because next time you might not have meek grandma with the kid. You might have a mom or dad going mama or papa grizzly and knocking your teeth out for touching their kid. Address the parent and if that doesn't work ask to be re-seated. Never lay your hands on another person's kid period.

And to Delta, fix your dang touch screens or take them out! Your lack of maintenance brought on the issue in the first place. Well that and an entitled woman who thinks she has the right to play judge and jury for someone else's kid!


CORRECTION TO ORIGINAL STORY - 14A slapped at niece twice. Once she hit the touch screen and the second she hit her hand. She was clearly annoyed by the pressing of the touch screen. The foot was hit by 14b when she was reclined but that may have been unintentional. But 14A was not unintentional.

FURTHER CLARIFICATION - This was a 763 so there were only two seats in the row - my mother in 15 and my niece in 15A. So no climbing over anything.

NotHamSarnie

Obviously not.

plagwate

The OP wasn't there so we're only hearing one potentially filtered side of the story. This is bound to get ugly as parents and non-parents weigh in so IBTL.

JBJ2435

I hate to comment on these types, but how could the woman in front slap the child's foot if it was not in her space or on the armrest or child pushing on the seat with feet. IMO mother should have proactively stopped the behavior. No excuse for 14a though.

IBTL

FalconStng

I completely agree with OP. No stranger has the right to discipline someone else's child. If it is truely an issue then take it up with the caregiver or talk to a flight attendant.

FWIW, touchscreens in the seatback are just asking for this type of issue from anyone. Even when they are working properly there is almost no way you can use the menus without the person in the seat ahead of you not noticing it. Unfortunately there really is no more effective way to provide personal in flight video.

I wouldn't be so quick to call Delta out as causing this either. Things like inflight touchscreens not working don't usually get reported until they have completely failed or an incident happens like this that gets the flight attendants attention.

Tracy

Father-of-3

Touch screens in the seat backs are the worst. I try to press lightly on them but they aren't nearly as sensitive as they should be. I hope nobody punches me in the nose for pausing my movie.

airplanegod

I feel sorry for your niece. 14A, even if she was annoyed, had no right to touch your niece. At the same time, you lost any credibility you had when you blamed Delta for this. TV's and parts in the plane break all the time, it happens. Delta didn't purposely make the TV loose nor did they tell the woman in 14A to hit your daughter. Nice try though.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Sounds like a matter that should be resolved through a law enforcement agency... not through FT.

If it is indeed a case of assault, since when do people need to consult an internet travel forum to be enabled to file charges.

I - B - T - L

I'm not even going to search for a bag of popcorn for this one.

HongKonger

Nobody should smack anyone else but especially a child. 14A can talk to the adult minder or a FA about it. Someone who smacked my child on a plane would have regretted it. IBTL

LaserSailor

What was the toddlers status??

vbjd1111

Title says woman "hit" the niece
Post says grandmother reported that woman "slapped" the niece's "hand and her foot"
OP then goes on to characterize the incident as "smacking" the kid.

My guess is this could have been as minor as a tap, but we will never know because the OP was not there and is taking to the internet to avenge a wrong about which she has only heard one version, and that second hand.

Count me as yawning.

tom911

I think the San Francisco Police Department Airport Division could have helped to make that point by meeting the flight on arrival, perhaps with a battery citation to the offending party.

chicaloca453

Putting hands on any child you don't know is not appropriate unless that child is in distress and the parent isn't around. Be it a hot slap or smack or even a pat.

I will clarify that 14a did not smack the child's Foot. That was 14b who was leaning back in her seat. 14a reached back once to smack and hot the touch screen and then a few seconds later reached back and smacked the child.

Whichever action word you choose to describe the incident it was highly inappropriat. As far as my blaming Delta, yes it is a reach but perhaps inspections need to be done on the screens periodically. I don't recall ever having to beat a touch screen on united to the point of disturbing a passenger in front of me and don't recall being disturbed by someone behind me doing it. The crew's lack of interest was also an issue.

As for taking it up on FT there's a lot less serious things being brought up here daily. Forgive me if I thought some might offer some insight and that perhaps 14a might actually read it and think twice before trying such a thing again.

My niece will never be the kid running up and down the aisles or jumping on the seat because we will not allow it. But to smack a kid for trying to find frozen on the ife would be crossing the line for even a parent to do much less a stranger.

kettle1

DM

This tells me there is more to the story.

Was this person wrong to even touch the child? Yes.

I do not see anything DL did wrong in this case.

puddinhead

How would Ms. 14A hit the kid's foot if it was on the floor - where it belongs? It would seem hard to reach a properly placed foot on the floor in a window seat.

Or was the foot on 14A's armrest? It would be easy to hit it there but NO responsible adult would let a child do that so that isn't possible. It could be that it was on the top of the seat - easy to hit but again not a place a responsible adult would allow a child to put their feet. Oafish elites maybe but not a properly supervised child.

So I can only guess that 14A climbed over 15B and 15C to get to the child's foot.

Or there are parts of the story that were left out to enhance the victimization angle?

There is no reason to hit an unarmed child. But parents that let children get obnoxious ruin for parents of well behaved children. The presumption is that all children are as bad as the worst.

Why did she let the kid keep hitting the screen?