Dad Reprimanded By Plane Passenger For Speaking With His Own Son Asks If He Was Wrong

Mar 27, 2023

Flying can most certainly be stressful and is made particularly daunting when traveling with children. One would most likely not expect a completely worry-free experience, what with the number of stories we hear these days about difficult fellow passengers. Typical complaints range from seating issues to rude behavior and even invasion of space and privacy. However, one man on a flight with his child discovered even the most innocuous of actions could rub others the wrong way.

The man took to Reddit on July 15, 2022, to share his experience with the community and get its feedback on his actions. In the post, he recounted his encounter with a passenger seated beside him that took him by surprise.

“My son and I were flying home from vacation,” he started his post. “My wife left two days earlier because of a work thing. He's young enough not to need a ticket and just sit in my lap, so we did that to save money. We ended up in a middle seat, which sucks, but oh well. Anyway, he was still asleep when we got on the plane (very early flight). The lady at the window also fell asleep as soon as she sat down. The guy at the aisle put headphones in and started playing on his phone. All was relatively peaceful.”

However, the father said the relative peace was shattered soon after.

“About an hour in my son woke up and we started chatting. We talked about what we did on vacation, how we're excited to see mom again, you know, typical three year old conversation. Then I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn and see window lady (sorry, I don't know her name) with her sunglasses off. Her eyes were red and she was glaring,” he wrote.

Unsure of what had transpired, the dad proceeded to ask the woman if there was something wrong.

“I smiled at her and asked if she needed something. She said she needed me to be quiet so she could sleep. I was a bit taken aback. I joked that the quiet car is on the other side of the plane. She said no one wanted to hear my conversation. I got annoyed at that point and told her to wear headphones. She said she didn't have any. I shrugged and went back to talking to my son,” he wrote.

Still dissatisfied, the woman flagged down a flight attendant and asked if she could sit elsewhere. However, she only wanted a window seat as she had paid extra for one, to which the attendant said she was already seated in one. Undeterred, the woman proceeded to ask the flight attendant to move the father and his child, at which point the dad conceded he might have acted badly.

“I felt like the lady was being rude and entitled and said I was happy where I was and preferred not to move. The hostess shrugged and walked off. Window lady said I was a d***. I said it takes one to know one and not to curse in front of my kid,” he recalled. The two then ignored each other for the rest of the flight. When the dad returned home, he recounted the incident to his wife.

“She said that lady sounded awful but I should have switched seats and not exposed our son to more potential conflict. Yeah, probably, but the lady had me steamed,” he wrote before asking the community for their views on his actions. 

Many agreed that the dad had done the right thing, and the woman’s expectation of total silence wasn’t reasonable.

“If you want to sleep on a plane that’s not an overnight flight then you bring headphones, earplugs anything. You carry on being an awesome dad. Better to teach you kid not to bend to bullies,” one reader wrote. 

Another said, “Your child was behaving. It's not your fault she's a light sleeper. She was given the opportunity to move and chose not to, so it couldn't have been that disruptive for her. She's not entitled to dictate orders to complete strangers to change seats because she'd prefer it.”

A third user wrote: “I think you handled everything well. It's good for kids to see light conflict with suitable resolutions. Helps them see how to handle difficult situations, even if they don't understand any context of it yet.”

Some readers sided with the man’s wife. “For the sake of your kid you ought to have taken him out of the situation,” one user wrote. Another said, "An airplane is a public space. Talking from others is to be expected. Your wife had a point though.”

But others felt the dad’s behavior was also insensitive.

“Having an extended conversation on a plane is also inconsiderate,” one reader said. “I would be annoyed too, especially if I was tired. But you know what? That’s the reality of being crowded on an airplane,” another agreed.

In general, the responses pointed to a universally accepted truth when it comes to getting from point A to point B alongside crowds of strangers, which was summed up in one concise comment that read:

“Rule #1 of traveling is that you are not in control of your environment, so there’s no point getting worked up about it.”

What are your thoughts on the incident? Are you easily irritated by chatter while flying? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to friends and family and ask what they would’ve done in the same situation.