A little more about those babies on the plane

A week ago, Japan Airlines presented what they consider a great plan where you can see where babies are located on board when you reserve your seat. Now, I believe everyone found that quite funny because yes, we have all probably been annoyed by an inconsolable baby who has returned the entire contents of their bottle to nature. Moreover, I have often been particularly annoyed by my own children who were inconsolable, didn’t want to put on their seatbelt, thought their milk wasn’t at the right temperature, and so on. Since my children are older (and cause other irritations, but that’s beside the point), I find a crying baby a ‘walk in the park’. I can deeply enjoy that it’s not my child and hope to wave away the discomfort from the mother with warm it’s-okay-and-we-know-how-it-is looks.

But let’s say we replace the word baby with another word. For example, a person not using deodorant. Or the loud snorer. Or armrest hogger. Or long-legged person who will park their legs in your territory. Or drunkard. Aside from the fact that I find it particularly unkind and even discriminatory towards this new life (and actually quite inappropriate), I also wonder what the intention is behind this. Because when we talk about annoying fellow passengers, I can name a few more.

Let’s be a little kind to each other, come on. A flight lasts at most sixteen hours. And as every disadvantage has its advantage: during such a long flight, even the most enthusiastic crying baby eventually falls asleep.