Without polluting the original thread, I have to wonder about the practicality of ANY pilot nowadays giving ANY consideration to a request to “please descend slowly and miss your slot because a child has hurting ears”. Not saying anything about the child, or children, or anything at all about children on airplanes, but I’d like a cite from the person who said it on any airline having a policy or allowing their pilots to change on request or even pilots actually changing on request their flight approach due to a toddler’s ears hurting. Given how incredibly fucked-up the scheduling and delays are at many major airports, I have a hard time seeing anything short of a heart attack or sudden major illness causing a change in flight patterns.
I’d also like a cite from the person who said it as to the actual risk of “permanent deafness” resulting from the relatively mild changes in pressure in the cabin. It’s not explosive decompression, and while it is painful I have a hard time believing that there is any significant risk of “permanent deafness”. And yes, I’ve had not one both BOTH eardrums explode due to infections - one time on an airplane, as it happens - and surprisingly I not only am not deaf but have had no reduction in hearing. Even with your eardrum ruptured you can still hear.
Finally, to Ms Robyn, sometimes you can consistently get early boarding on Delta if you ask out of range of earshot of the other flyers. Agents are reluctant to grant early boarding with a lot of people overhearing, because of course then people will start thinking “unfair!”…
Oh, I know. When I fly Delta (which is becoming fairly frequent, because my parents cash their frequent-flier miles so we can come visit), I’ll make it a point to get to the gate early enough that I can talk to the gate agent without a lot of passengers being queued up themselves. It’s usually not a hassle to board early, unless I’ve got a gate agent who is married to policy. That has happened maybe twice.
It’s not pleasant. Aaron has flown with chronic ear infections and with the sniffles. Adults can take appropriate measures to clear their ears (Next time we see you, Airman can show you some good ones.), but young children can’t. I don’t think there was any lasting trauma to his ears, but I know it wasn’t fun for him.
That said, Aaron’s doctor told us to keep a bottle or cup of juice or water handy for takeoffs and landings to give him something to suck. The sucking/swallowing helps clear his ears, making it easier for him to cope.
Did milroyj actually say that people shouldn’t avail themselves of public services if they’re going to irritate others? Wow. I hope you’ve got yourself a nice remote hermit cave picked out, dude. Can’t say we’ll miss you.
Considering that you weren’t the person making the original statement, and I in no way called the person making the statement any names, nor said they were “wrong” or “lying”, nor insulted them in any way, your hostility is uncalled for. Actually, not to mince words, I won’t say you’re being a jerk as this is not part of a trend that I can see, but that was a jerkish post now on your behalf, wasn’t it?
In addition, nothing I asserted as a counter-example is proven false by your cite. I asked for a cite for “permanent deafness”, as the claim seemed over the top and not in keeping with experience with otitis media and airplane trips. So what part of that was “shooting my mouth off”?
In fact, what part of asking for a cite constitutes “shooting (ones) mouth off”, exactly? Are you going to start saying this to everyone who asks for a cite here? That’s not going to go very well…
From your own cite:
Seems to back up what I said. And seems not to be “permanent” if it can heal on its own, or be repaired. I t’s possible of course to nitpick “what is permanent” or what is “deafness”, as some can define even a 1% hearing loss as “deafness”, but the way in which the vast majority of people understand the words “permanent deafness” is to mean “a persistent and irreversible profound loss of hearing which affects a lifestyle change”.
The irony of you flaming me for “shooting (my own) mouth off” (when I actually did nothing of the sort, as my original post a) related personal experience and knowledge and b) merely asked for a cite) is pretty substantial, don’t you think? Without addressing the larger and long-term issue, since I don’t really care to get into that right now (and you really don’t want to either, believe me) - is not flaming me for something I did not do “shooting (one’s) mouth off”, as you yourself put it?
I’m sorry, Q.E.D., but I feel you are not in the right here on all issues.
You could always fly with the luggage, unless the squeaking of the luggage pressing against each other would offend thy shell like ears. Perish forbid the thought that you might wear ear plugs… or a muzzle.
Exactly. And lest anyone think this is a childed v childless argument: it’s not. Screaming kids wake and disturb other passengers’ sleeping babies and children, as well as the peace of the many passengers who are also parents, whether their kids are with them or not.
In the cases of Gulf Arab and some Levantine Arab families? Usually zip nada nothing, if he’s there at all. Which he quite probably isn’t. The “New Man” movement never quite arrived here…
Yes. Yes it was. For various reasons, I find myself rather ill-tempered of late. I apologize for the extreme and uncalled for snarkiness in my previous post
Perhaps. But there is eveidence, that at least some severe hearing loss, if not permament deafness, can be caused by repeated occurrences of otitis media. Whether this could occur froma single incident of a barotramatic burst eardrum, I admittedly cannot say. I have had just such an injury–a high-velocity impact on the side of the head–which burst my eardrum and caused significant (~20%), pemanent hearing loss.
A single post does not and should not come between friends, my friend, nor will I allow it do so.
I have no disagreement whatsoever with that observation. Perhaps I have been fortunate to have no loss, but my doctors also said to me (no cite offered) that in their experience most people (adults?) did not have permanent loss unless the bones were damaged as well. Seems to me that your high-velocity impact might have done just that, but then, I’m only speculating here, not offering factual proof. My ruptures were due to diabetic-driven ear-infections in the middle ear. Although they were concerned about possible brain lesions from spreading infection, I seem to have escaped that. At least that’s what my cat told me, and he’s never wrong since he’s Jesus and all…
I’m not sure about the propriety here, but its the Pit, so there can’t be much. At any rate, blushing gratitude for the kudos. Luckily, I am not burdened with false modesty. Or any, for that matter.
Anecdote: When The Sending was but a baby, I took him along when I went to the latest Richard Pryor movie, which I was not going to miss. He was pretty cool about it, enjoying people laughing and not making any kind of fuss. But at one point he slid off my lap, waddled over to the aisle, and flopped down on his back, arms and legs akimbo, in the imperative “Change me! NOW!” posture.
So I did. Right there. The only response was indulgent chuckles. 'Course, I live in the People’s Republic of Minnesota, where tolerant sanity is more prevalent. Probably wouldn’t do that on an airplane, but I’m never on an airplane, so that’s a wash.
