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We've all had to share a plane with a screaming infant or a cranky toddler at one point or another, but for many people online, an incident shown in a recent viral video took the cake.
The video, posted to Reddit's Public Freakout subReddit, showed the moment on a recent flight in which a small child was seen jumping up and down on a tray table.
The man sitting in the seat to which the tray table was attached was strongly jostled by the child's antics, but at no point during the video did the child's parents or anyone else intervene.
\u201cToddler from hell.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
According to the original poster on Reddit, the flight in question was eight hours in length, and many have speculated the child was American, though where she and her family hail from wasn't known.
The Redditor described the incident as "letting children run wild during an 8 hour flight," which is about as nightmarish a description of air travel as you can get.
Plane etiquette has become a hot button topic in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with an explosion of belligerent passengers in sometimes violent interactions with airline and airport staff.
This incident didn't appear to go that far, but many people on the internet were left perplexed by the lack of action in the video by any of the child's fellow passengers—including the man being disturbed by the child's jumping.
Others called out the child's parents for not controlling their child, especially on such a lengthy flight.
On Twitter, the child's behavior definitely caught lots of people's attention, and there was no shortage of anger towards her seemingly blasé parents.
\u201c@MikeSington This happened to me once. When the parents wouldn\u2019t make it stop, I turned around and told the kid that Santa Claus wasn\u2019t real. True story.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
\u201c@MikeSington Actually it\u2019s not the toddler it\u2019s the parents\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
\u201cHey parents this is unacceptable. If you can't manage your kids don't use public services!\n\nToddler Runs Wild On Eight Hour Flight, Jumping On Tray Table\nhttps://t.co/C7tFiA4nip\u201d— Dawn Wildman (@Dawn Wildman) 1669336916
\u201c@MikeSington Who lets their kids do this???\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
\u201cI had a child doing that to my seat on a flight. I whirled around to the toddler and screeched "STOP IT!" as loudly as I could. Passengers applauded, mother and child burst into tears, I sat down, Flight attendant smiled.\nPleasant flight ensued.\u201d— NoName. \u270d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc31\ud83d\udcda\ud83d\ude37\ud83e\udd2d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6#progressive (@NoName. \u270d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc31\ud83d\udcda\ud83d\ude37\ud83e\udd2d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6#progressive) 1669342058
\u201csorry but ur kid is getting yeeted out of an emergency exit\u201d— kailey (@kailey) 1669316328
\u201c@MikeSington I had my 3 daughters on flights all over the world at that age and they never did that. Her parents are the problem.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
But the toddler was not without her defenders. Some people cast her behavior as just normal kids' stuff.
\u201c@MikeSington Yes children exist\u2026. And YES sometimes they like to act like children. If you can\u2019t coexist with children then maybe do a little self reflection. Also,forcing your child into submission to behave like the \u201c perfect gentlemen\u201d is not a great humble brag.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
And, as you might expect, the child's defenders caused plenty of angry backlash too.
\u201c@originaljustus @MikeSington If the guy in the seat in front of her had turned and pulled a Mike Tyson, I would 100% defend his action. Get out of here with this take; I have to coexist with a toddler jumping up and down on a seat tray table? Also, it\u2019s a girl.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
Jumping on a table tray isn’t “regular toddler stuff,” though. If I was the guy in front of the kid, the parent and I would have words. I’m not saying the kid should sit in silence, but your kid using my seat back as a trampoline? Nah.
— Elton Johnny Dangerously (@DesertPlains496) November 25, 2022
\u201c@MikeSington If you\u2019re not going to parent your kids, at least do everyone a favor and give them some Benadryl for the flight.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1669296854
Best of luck to all of you flying over the holidays. If this video is any indication, you're going to need it!