A Sky-High Lesson: Manners at 30,000 Feet
As I'm unable to get a ticket for my return trip after the Thanksgiving holiday, I specifically booked a first-class seat home.
Just as I find my seat, I see an unruly child jumping around on it.
I patiently smile and say, "Kid, this is my seat. Where is your seat?"
He makes a face at me. "It's mine now, old hag!"
I grab him by the collar of his shirt, wanting to lift him out of the seat.
At that moment, a woman's piercing voice sounds behind me. "What are you doing? Let go of my son!"
I release my grip and say as gently as possible, "Please control your child. This is my seat."
Suddenly, she raises her voice. "He's just a child! Can't you, as an adult, give way to him? You're young and dressed decently. How can you have no compassion at all?"
I'm so angered by this distorted reasoning that I laugh.
"If you're so compassionate, why didn't you spend the money to buy your child a first-class seat?"