As I was reading down my facebook wall, I came across this article from babycenter.com about having "kid free" flights and having "kid only" flights. I have kind of mixed feelings about this. While I would LOVE to see more kid friendly flights, to completely not let kids on a flight seems totally ridiculous. If you choose to be out in public or on any sort of public transportation, then you need to suck it up and deal with the fact that situations are not going to be in your control and you are going to have to actually deal with other human beings (and occasionally slightly unpleasant situations). That includes children. I think if you want special treatment, fly first class. I doubt many families are flying in that section. That being said, I don't think its a bad idea to have more kid friendly amenities on flights. It would be nice to have a section in an airplane geared more towards people with children. Maybe not for short flights, but for sure any flight over 3 hours. Maybe a small area for kids to be able to get up and walk around, and a bathroom slightly bigger so you can actually change a child's diaper in it. (have you ever tried to change a toddler's diaper in an airplane bathroom? It's difficult to change an infant's diaper in there, but any child over the age of one is physically impossible.) I also think it would be great to have juice boxes as apposed to giving my fidgety 4 year old an open top cup with a straw. Especially when he is sitting by a stranger that could possible end up with that drink in their lap. I would totally be willing to pay a little extra for that sort of stuff. (Not a lot more, since airfare is over priced already.)
I just don't understand why some average Joes feel the world revolves around them and that we should all bend over backwards to make them more comfortable. It's one thing if you're willing to pay for that special treatment, but if you are sitting next to me or my 2 year old, you didn't. You entered the lottery and got stuck with me, just like I got stuck with you. That's the chance you took. So, deal with it, buddy. It's one thing if a child is acting out and a parent is choosing to ignore it, which does happen at times, but that's not typically the case. If you can't peacefully coexist with all sorts of people, (including little ones) then maybe you should stay home.
What kid friendly (or not kid friendly) things would you be willing to pay for on your next flight?
2 comments:
Some wider aisles. It's hard to hold a toddler or infant on your lap when the next seat is practically there already. Also a few rows without the tray table. Gideon was always playing with it and getting the person in front of us mad. Just eliminate them altogether in a family zone.
Also, if you ask for a top to your cup for the kids they should be able to give you one. I've started doing that for Gideon and it's great. Or I just make sure to have an empty sippy cup that I can pour his drink in. I do love the idea of juice boxes, too.
I think they should have foot rests that come up so there little legs can reach and rest on them..... instead they dangle there which makes them just want to kick the sit in front of them anyways. I also flew a couple of times in Turkey. In Turkey they think its a blessing to have children around. So on the flights the flight attendants always came and took my child (they don't ask) and played with them. They would take them down the aile and introduce them to other people. I would definantly pay more for a kind nice flight attendant that played with my kid.
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