A dad has been slammed for 'weaponizing' his screaming child against an 'entitled' plane passenger who loudly complained about his parenting. the man explained how he boarded a six hour flight with his wife and one and a half year old son - but struggled to keep the infant from acting up while in the air.
While sitting on his knee, the youngster would repeatedly "bump" the other passenger's chair, prompting him to confront the parents. The dad said on Reddit: "I had our son as a lap infant. He was having a really challenging time - he wouldn’t sleep, sit still, or calm by all the tricks we had up our sleeves.
"The guy in the seat in front of us kept getting his seat bumped by the kiddo and kept giving me the half turn and side eye."
Five hours into the flight and the passenger turned to the dad to ask him to 'control' his child.
"I replied, 'We’re doing our best', he repeated that you 'Need to control your kid', I kept trying to explain we’re doing everything we can," the dad added.
"I felt snarky and exhausted, 'I will relay the message to our son'.
"The guy started going off on me, probably picking up on my jest.
"I told him again that we’re doing our best and that if he had a problem we should call the flight attendant to sort his issue out.
"He refused to do this - and kept arguing with me for a bit."
Annoyed by the confrontation, the dad tightened his grasp so his son couldn't squirm around - but this came at a cost.
"My non-combative wife was mortified and I was angry.
"So to maliciously comply with the gentlemen, I held our kid still on my lap facing this gentleman’s seat and my son then screamed for the remaining 90 minutes of the flight.
"I hoped that the gentleman preferred his fate of loud screams over a few bumps on his chair."
Commenting on his admission, one user said: "Not only is this couple making their fellow passengers miserable, they’re also giving their own infant hell by not trying harder to calm him down.
"Of course a six-hour-flight or even probably a one-hour-flight is going to be hell for a young child unaccustomed to flying."
Another user added: "Weaponized the kid so much that I’m surprised he got through TSA (Transportation Security Administration)."
A third user said: "I know it’s hard for people travelling with kids. I know the whole, start them early and get them used to it thing.
"But damnit when I see stories like this I just wish there was child free options for people who didn’t want to travel with screeching children."
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