Everything from my Very Worst Nightmare

This flight had everything from my "Very Worst Nightmare". (A concept borrowed from Molly’s description of Disney World at Christmas.)

I arrived at the gate about an hour before the flight was scheduled to leave. A lady was trying to console a screaming 3-4 month old baby, with the assistance of another lady I assumed was the Grandmother, but later discovered she was just a helpful traveler. This baby continued to scream for at least 15 minutes regardless of what they tried to do. I was thinking that it was okay; because by the time the flight boarded the baby would be so tired he would sleep. I noticed the volume begin to decline, and then realized they were leaving the gate area and that she also had a 4-5 year old little boy with her. They came back in a few minutes carrying a McDonald’s sack. The baby was still fussy, but the screaming had subsided.

The plane was late, but we finally started boarding. I discovered she was on my plane when she pre-boarded with her small children. The very nice lady who had been helping her told them she would see them later.

Now, I know this will be hard to believe, but as I navigated down the aisle of the plane to my seat, I discovered that this little family was going to be sharing my row. Of note is that when the ‘very nice lady who had been helping’ passed by on her way to her seat, she had a rather smirky smile on her face when she met my eyes. I am not an overly personable traveler. I like to be left alone to read or doze and I do not normally engage in small talk. Whenever I end up in a row with children, it amazes me that the mother seems to think I should make over the kid. I smile and try to read, and make every effort to let my non-verbal communicate that I am not at all inconvenienced, but do not wish to socialize. Carolyn would have been the ‘very nice lady’. She would have known the kids names and how old they were, played games with the annoying little boy, and been singing to the very fussy baby. I really thought about that, but I just couldn’t make myself DO it.

I was on the aisle, the Mom and baby were in the middle and the very annoying little boy was at the window. He never shut his mouth. The Mom would be very tolerant and patient, and then would just loose it and tell him to be quiet or she would smack him, although she never did. He obviously knew she never would, because the threats didn’t deter him at all. The baby never did go to sleep. She fed him a red liquid (I assume some kind of juice) throughout the flight to keep him quiet, but it didn’t always work very well. When she wasn’t trying to get the baby to drink the juice, she was jabbering to him and/or yelling at the other one. I really did have empathy for her. She wasn’t having any more fun than I was and she had to change planes and repeat the process. I was a little fearful they were continuing on to Kansas City and I would get to share my row with them once again, but God knew I would never have the patience to endure it, and sent them to Nashville.

Right now I am in traveler heaven. The flight is fairly empty and I have the entire row to myself. I figure it’s my reward for keeping my mouth shut and maintaining a pleasant demeanor during my very worst nightmare.