Just a thought----maybe Una doesn’t generally like kids ** because** of experiences with kids. I don’t much care for kids myself, and I freely admit it’s because I’ve had too many bad experiences with the little spawn and their doting parents. I’m embarrassed to say that one of these is my sister. I just watched with astonishment the other day as she *asked *her seven-year-old daughter eight or ten times to go to bed, instead of telling the kid what to do. She was actually whining about it, too, which sure must inspire fear and obediance in a kid.
Una, you really do need to work on your Dangerous Look.
Mine, I have to be careful with. I have given small children The Dangerous Look and had them burst into tears. Then I feel bad. Really, I don’t know how I do that. I’m 5’3", I have long hair and glasses and don’t look like an athlete or jock. Certainly, if you saw a picture of me I wouldn’t look dangerous or threatening. Maybe I just have really aggressive body language.
Look, if I’m on an airplane and an infant or obvious barely-walking-age toddler starts crying or screaming I groan and bear it - such human beings are just not capable of self-control. Ten year olds, however, should have manners enough to not kick peoples’ seat, keep their hands and other body parts to themselves, and behave with a certain minimum civility.
These stories about kids and airplanes also remind me of stories of kids on busses, kids on trains, kids in shopping malls… problem is, with an airplane you’re all locked into a shiny metal box, you just don’t have the option of going to another location.
I’m a very heterosexual female, I enjoy the company of men, but I don’t like men I don’t know draping their body parts on my body parts either. Hell, I avoid touching most of my guy friends other than handshakes or other very token and brief social contacts. I can only imagine that a lesbian would desire strange male bodyparts on her person much much less than I do. It feels threatening. It can be a form of intimidation.
(My worst groping-on-an-airplane story did not involve a child, but rather a “flight instructor” who was either immune to my Dangerous Look or too stupid to understand it. I pointed the nose of the airplane towards the ground, firewalled the throttle, and while the engine and gravity were arranging a rendezvous with Mother Earth informed him he could remove his hand from my crotch or he could die, pick one. Death before dishonor and all that. Oddly enough, he kept his hands completely to himself the rest of the flight. But, of course, that is not an option for a passenger on a commercial flight.)
I would like to point out that Federal regulations DO require ALL people to be strapped in during taxi, takeoff, and landing. If little monsters are bouncing around loose while the airplane is rolling on the ground you might wish to bring this to the attention of the flight crew in a loud voice. As in “Hey, don’t FAA regulations require people to be belted in during taxi? How do I report a violation. What’s the phone number to the local Flight Standards District Office…?” It might get results. You never know.
It’s a shame you don’t know how you do it, because I would pay you big money to teach me how to make a child burst into tears just by lookin’ at it.
Personally I didn’t care for the “Alpha Male” remarks. I’m an alpha type but I never try to intimidate or pick on anyone who is smaller or weaker than I am, male or female. (Due to small physical stature I was remorsesly beaten on in junior and high school and developed an extreme dislike of, and zero tolerance for bullying behaviour. I got my growth spurt way late.). As to the kids though, I think you were right on track on both cases, and probably more subdued then you could have been. There is never any excuse for the type of behaviour an adolescent of that age was exhibiting. Moreover, the fact that he was trying it out on someone smaller than he was is a clear fact that he’s nothing but a little thug and he deserved more than he got. Those remarks go for Thug sr. As well. It’s a shame that there are so many poor examples of manhood out there.