# The crying of a baby in public is more frustrating because it doesn't know better

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crying-of-a-baby-in-public-is-more-frustrating-because-it-doesnt-know-better/755890>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 28, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crying-of-a-baby-in-public-is-more-frustrating-because-it-doesnt-know-better/755890 "2016-05-28T14:43:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crying-of-a-baby-in-public-is-more-frustrating-because-it-doesnt-know-better/755890/61 "2016-06-01T06:09:51Z")

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> [@Kaio](#):
>
> :rolleyes: The TITLE OF THE THREAD is “The crying of a baby **in public** is…”
> 
> Not “The crying of a baby in an airplane.”

The thread title is just the bit that we click on to open the thread. The opening post contains the detail of the question, which, yes, did mention general-purpose public spaces almost in passing.

> [@](#):
>
> _Of course_ I’m talking about the public spaces / public transit I move around in. Babies can’t hurt my head if I’m not there to hear them.

Right. but I was talking about public spaces that _I_ move about in, and you still saw fit to correct me based on your own, different context.

> [@](#):
>
> (By the way, did you even notice that I’d already said that shrieking babies cause me physical pain? And somehow I’m the bad guy for not wanting to be caused pain just for moving about in public?)

Loud noise causes me pain too. I still maintain that as an independent adult, the pain in my ears is a lesser evil than evicting a parent with a distressed baby from the carriage.

> [@](#):
>
> Look dude. We’re clearly not even talking about the same topic here, thanks to your unclear antecedents, so let it go already.

I don’t think I was particularly unclear. Maybe you should read more carefully (like, more than the thread title, for example) before responding.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-crying-of-a-baby-in-public-is-more-frustrating-because-it-doesnt-know-better/755890/62 "2016-06-01T14:21:45Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> …Loud noise causes me pain too. I still maintain that as an independent adult, the pain in my ears is a lesser evil than evicting a parent with a distressed baby from the carriage.  
> …

This.

I no longer have small children. And i still hate hearing them cry. But there’s often nothing practical the parents can do. And no, exiting the bus and hoping another one comes by when the baby settles down is not usually practical. (Although if it is, God bless you for doing that.) So the rest of us just have to suck it up with as much grace as we can manage. If you smile supportively at the parent, you may help calm them, which in turn makes it easier for them to calm the baby. That’s about all you can do that’s constructive, though, unless you are especially good at distracting babies (I’m not.)

Babies are one of the expected costs of living in a civilisation, which among its other functions needs to rear the next generation. That squalling baby may be your doctor or shovel your walk when you age. Really, we all have a vested interest in the next generation.

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