Analise

I'm warning you all.....this is a rant!

I should hope that not one single FT parent would have the audacity to pull this stunt which I experienced over the weekend. On a flight home from LAX on Delta, I was the last person on the plane. That was a whole new experience for me but I was held back at security for over 1 1/2 hours. Anyway, when I got on the plane and got to my seat in coach, a middle seat unfortunately, there was a baby in a car seat strapped to my seat. I asked the mother if there were some kind of mixup and showed her my boarding pass with 39B on it. She said that she wanted that seat for her little child and that the FA said she could have it.

The FAs were stuck up front but I hit the call button anyway. This woman was completely unreasonable and thought that since I was late getting to my "fabulous" seat, she should take it because she could not possibly hold her baby on the entire flight. I said that unless she bought a ticket, she would have to do just that.

A flight attendant finally came with the woman complaining that I'm causing her precious child to be inconvenienced and because of that, the baby will probably scream at the top of its lungs because of me. I told the FA I'd be happy to sit anywhere else on the plane (why not, I was in 39B). Well, the flight was overbooked and this wasn't going to happen. The FA said that she could NOT ask the woman to give up that seat. Of course you can and you must, I said as I am not leaving this plane since nobody else is ticketed for that seat. I then got the attention of the head FA. The woman then stated again that my being there would cause the baby to scream the entire flight. I retorted, "then you clearly won't be elected mother of the year by anybody with a brain". People laughed. The head of FA told the woman to free the seat and then checked the carry on seat. I took my seat and put on my music.

And you wonder why I think so little of parents today? Geeez.

El Cochinito

So how did the baby behave during the flight?

SptCA

Seat poaching is never acceptable, but I'm not sure I'd blame "parents today" for one idiot woman and a flight attendant without a clue. And what was a car seat doing in a middle seat anyway?

dchristiva

Wow. What a stunning generalization.

Congratulations on getting the seat you rightfully deserved. I'll reserve my thoughts on your diplomacy and attitude towards parents. I'm sure you'll make a perfect mom, though, and will easily win "mother of the year" from everyone with a brain.

Analise

A generalization? Absolutely. But if she weren't part of some kind of norm, the initial FA would not have told her that she could take a second seat on an overbooked flight. Of course both the FA and mother could have been isolated cases.

If we are blessed to have children, we will do what our parents did when we were growing up. We didn't fly until we were old enough to know how to behave in public. Age 6 or so.

I won't put a baby through the ordeal of flying.

Bonehead

I am shocked at the mother's behavior, and applaud you for not taking the baby and stowing it in the overhead bin. That must have taken control.

tazi

Did they expect you to leave the plane? I can't believe a FA would even consider not letting you have the seat once you boarded!

Nice parent of the year comment, btw

laguardiaguy

I wonder how she got the seat onto the plane in the first place if the child wasn't ticketed. EVERYTIME I take my kids (just turned 5 & 1.5) on a plane the first thing the GA asks is if they are ticketed. And if they are not the car seat or stroller gets gate checked.

The above taken with the FA's reluctance to have the car seat removed leaves me with a strong feeling that there is a back story here.

nparker99

Good for you! I'm glad you didn't let them push you around. And as far as the "parents today" comment.....I have to agree. Just look at how rotten and spoiled so many children are these days. Just sit in any public space and watch....whether it's the grocery store, a mall, a restaurant, etc. It's downright awful. Heck - just watch either of the nanny shows on TV and you'll see. (Note: I'm not saying all parents are like this or that all kids are spoiled brats - so please don't start any rants.....but if you take a look IN GENERAL compared to 10 or 20 years ago you can't deny that there is a HUGE difference in parenting.)

dchristiva

That's quite a narrow perspective. Please tell me what an "ordeal" it is for a baby to fly, because clearly my son has been undergoing major stress without informing me, and my pediatrician has misinformed me about the dangers of flying.

I'm sure that you'll learn that a six year old probably behaves WORSE than an infant, so be prepared to adjust your time horizon on that point. Meanwhile, I hope that you and your family don't mind letting life pass you by while you wait for your children to learn how to behave in public. Sometimes you just have to take what life throws at you and adapt. Thousands of parents do it on flights every day.

SptCA

?!



Newsflash: for the baby, flying is usually a piece of cake. It's the parents who go through an ordeal. My son started flying a 4 months and has never had a problem with it.

I don't agree with your assumption at all. It sounds like the mother might have been such a pest, i.e. out of the norm, that the FA would agree to anything not to have to deal with her.

I'm sorry to hear that your children would remain at home until age 6 or so. Both they, and you, will miss out on so much by making that choice. And just out of curiosity, how do you expect them to learn to behave in public if they never have the opportunity to be "in public?" It's a rare child who learns rules in one set of circumstances and can automatically apply them to other circumstances, and that skill usually doesn't come until closer to 10 than 6.

flyerwife

The seat was rightfully yours.

That's about the only thing I can say about the OP without getting myself into trouble here.

Analise

No, I wish I had had someone put the mother in the overhead bin. It's never the children's fault. How could it be?

Analise

No need to feel sorry. I am very fortunate and incredibly blessed that my parents showed us so much of the world. They just did it when we were old enough to begin to appreciate it.

Perfect mom? Definitely not. A parent who will do her best not to shove her children's "rights" on someone else's paid plane seat? Absolutely.

Analise

The woman blamed me for taking my seat. Honestly I wanted to give her a full Bronx cheer but I restrained myself.