All too common anger on the plane had one passenger done fly out.
The passenger asked for advice on how to deal with the child, who they say repeatedly kicked them in the seat after several failed attempts to get the child’s father to intervene, they wrote on Reddit.
The Redditor, who goes by the name Silverlace22 on the platform, shared the incident in a live stream from a plane on Sunday, August 11. “I’m currently on a flight from Hawaii to Las Vegas and the child behind me keeps hitting my seat,” they wrote, claiming the child’s “unconscious father is sitting next to him doing nothing.”
“I don’t want to cause a scene but 4 hours into this and I’m ready for anything Karen,” the person continued. “I said YAY several times to no avail. Why do they only put 1/2 inch of foam between your lower back and someone’s foot?”
“Thanks for letting me vent 😖,” they concluded their post.
Stock image of a passenger on a flight.
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Fellow Redditors flocked to the comments section to weigh in on what they believed to be the correct course of action. One school of thought was that a disgruntled passenger should have alerted the flight attendant.
“Push the flight attendants button and use your best adult words to tell them what you said here,” wrote one user in a comment that quickly became the most popular.
Others agreed. “Realistically, it’s the only thing to do, to have [flight attendant] mediate. Attention parents, OP [original poster] obviously can’t control the kid, etc. Especially on a crazy long flight from HI.”
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However, some users have suggested that the way to handle the situation is to tell the child’s father. “I’m not sure why they don’t just turn around and talk to the parent instead of being passive aggressive and just saying oops,” one person commented.
“Get up and turn around. Respectfully ask the child’s father to stop the child from hitting your seat,” wrote another.
A third suggestion emerged among community members: ask the child to stop. “Tell your child directly to stop kicking your seat,” suggested one user.
“You’ve already spoken to dad – just tell the kid straight, firmly,” another interjected. “Tell him it’s not comfortable and you’d appreciate it if he didn’t do it. Or ask him (the kid) if you want someone to kick your seat?”
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A Southwest Airlines plane mid-flight. © Getty
PEOPLE previously spoke with travel expert, writer and consultant Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel (who also regularly travels with her children) about how to properly handle this situation.
“This is difficult because parents are already on high alert and often feel defensive when flying with their children,” she told PEOPLE. “Turning around, already angry, and starting to throw blame around is not going to help absolutely anyone have a better flight.”
Jackson explains that the absolute best way to approach the problem is to talk to the parent first, and she offers her advice on how best to word the conversation.
“Try saying, ‘I know you have a lot on your plate, but your kid is kicking my seat and it’s bothering him. Can you talk to him about stopping, please?'”
The travel expert also told PEOPLE that if a child is “incredibly disruptive” on a plane and does things like run up and down the aisle or close and open windows, it’s perfectly acceptable to call a flight attendant for help.
“There are ways to stand up for our comfort and our spaces without getting into an argument. “If you’ve asked someone — a parent or someone else — to stop doing something two or even three times and it still hasn’t stopped, it’s time to hit that call light and get professional help,” she says.
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Source: HIS Education