When the whole family gets involved in an argument? Well, that's when you know it's all getting real.
In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a woman asked if she was wrong for telling her sister she's entitled on planes. She wrote:
Note, I'm well aware fathers are equally responsible for their children and her husband was with her on the flights, but he wasn't present for the conversation and it was only with my sister so focus is on her. My sister "Chelsea" has two children, 22 months and 6 months, and last month she and her husband decided to go on a holiday to Europe before they'd have to buy a seat for the kids.
She said the kids were "terrible flyers" and cried the whole way on both trips (we are from Australia) and wouldn't settle. She has made a lot of passive-aggressive posts on social media about how entitled non-parents are about kids on planes and how people need to have more sympathy for mums because they are suffering more than they are because their babies won't settle and being a parent is hard.
She's been kinda....whiney in general since she became a mum, always complaining about hard it is and she makes a lot of snide comments to me about how it "must be nice" that I sleep in etc because I've chosen not to have kids. The plane situation came up when I saw her last night.
She started talking about it again and I asked her if something specific happened or if someone was rude to her about the kids and she admitted that they weren't really, people just looked visibly annoyed as the kids refused to settle and on one of the flights the person next to her asked the flight attendant if there was anywhere else she could sit after a fewhours and looked disappointed when told the flight was full.
She also said they were rude because none of them offered to help her or give her reassuring smiles and comments. I said that people have the right to be annoyed at a baby crying the whole way from Melbourne to Singapore on a flight that leaves at 1AM in the morning and lands at like, 9AM, and she went off saying that they don't and her kids have a right to fly.
I told her I never said they didn't, just that people have the right to not be thrilled to be seated next to her infant who cries the whole way and that they don't have to feel more sorry for her than themselves because she is responsible for bringing the kids onto the plane and created the situation.
I also said that no one but her and her husband are obligated to look after their children on a flight and it isn't fair to expect the people around her to help with them. She stormed out and complained to my parents who backed me up, but our other sister started dogpiling me too so I just went home. AITA?
theworldisonfire8377 wrote:
NTA you were right. No one owes her anything and people do get annoyed at kids on flights because they usually cry and fuss and everyone on the plane is forced to tolerate it because there is nowhere else to go. Your sister needs to get a grip and realize she isn't entitled to other passengers helping her nor is she entitled to everyone being over-the-top understanding of her situation.
Show her the little care packages that some parents make for other passengers.. not because she should do that, but so that she sees that other parents understand it isn't enjoyable for the other people on the plane. If she is going to choose to fly with little kids who don't tolerate flying well, she needs to also be able to deal with the unhappy passengers she is subjecting her screaming children to.
CaffeinatedMum wrote:
Sorry, definitely NTA. She's very entitled. What did you think would happen when you take two kids under 2 on a super long plane ride? Yes, they will be very uncomfortable, and yes, so will the parents and everyone else around them. It's not easy parenting (I know myself), but the sister sounds selfish here. Did she really expect people around her to be excited?
Correct-Jump8273 wrote:
How does she know that the side-eye is coming from someone who is not a parent? That aside, people are allowed to look displeased when a baby cries, sometimes facial expressions are not voluntary. She needs to get over it & ignore the looks. NTA.
DryCell4889 wrote:
NTA, she has some balls to talk about entitlement when she's acting like the world owes her anything for having kids. If I spend my money and book a flight, I'm going to expect luxury and comfort. Screaming kids is the last thing on my "need on a plane" list.
Gloomy_Ruminant wrote:
NTA. I have taken multiple trans-Atlantic flights with small children and it definitely sucks, but the idea that other passengers can't also think it sucks is baffling. Flying is miserable all around.
Clearly, OP has the support of the internet.