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Parents bribe a plane
These parents came up with a candy-filled bribe to calm passengers aggravated by their screaming babies on board an American flight
Tara Harrison
Screaming young children on board aircraft is ranked by passengers and parents alike as one of the unpleasant hazards of air travel. Parents become stressed while passengers become irate.
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For anyone who has been in this situation, take a look at the creative solution parents in the US have devised to placate fellow passengers. It seems that frayed nerves can be calmed with ear plugs and candy.
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This innovative goodie bag was captured by a passenger and posted to the site Reddit under the headline "Brilliant and thoughtful parents handed these out to everyone on my flight".
This image garnered a huge response from the online community, receiving more than 1.5 million views and over 3000 comments within two days of the initial post.
Some commentators believe that this is the pinnacle of respectful and polite parenting. Others joked that if the parents really cared there would be a Xanax in the bag instead of a Jolly Rancher.
Commentator papabusche suggested the bribery bag was overkill. "I don't require an apology for a crying baby on a plane. This is to be expected. I'm ok with it. People have babies, and they need to travel too."
Stories of people's experiences with children on planes poured in. One commenter told of dirty diapers stored under seats, and Maui700 shared their experience on a flight last year with a young child sat one row back:
"The whole flight the parent of the child sang songs, read, colored, and basically kept the child very busy. After we landed the man who was sitting in my row turned around to the parent and said, "Madam, I have to say that you have an incredible child. It was such a relief to have her be as good as she was on this long flight. But, I must say that YOU about drove me nuts!" Everyone within hearing range busted out laughing, even the parent of the child."
As for this particular flight, the passenger who took the photo said the journey went well. "The parents were fantastic and the kids were better than would be expected."
If you are a parent, would you ever consider bribing fellow air passengers?
And as a passenger or a parent , what is your experience in flying with young children?
Share them below...
