"CarolA,
I would have beat your coworker down to a bloody pulp if he/she laid a hand on my child. "

Let me get this right? It's OK for Your "child" to KICK the seat of the passenger in front of him/her (which is in effect HITTING the passenger) but touching your child is wrong.... Hmm..... I see the problem here. Your child can do no wrong. (Does the word BRAT mean anything???) LOL!


Why is it ok for your child to HIT but not for the person being abused to defend themself???

In regards to the above. I thought about it. I know why the poster's child was hitting the passenger. If your response is to "beat you to a bloody pulp" your child probably has learned that "hitting is a good thing" What a shame!

As I said...you should have grabbed the parent!

But since it is obviously easier for your coworker to grab a child who was probably 3 times smaller than him/her, I sure that it was why they didn't grab the parent.

Honestly, I'm asking to understand...did you or your coworker ask the kid to stop first? Did you ask the parent to make the kid stop? Did you involve a FA? Or was your friends first instinct to put his/her hands on a kid.

I never said it was okay for a child to kick the seat...show me where I said that? I just think it is totally inappropriate for somebody to grab somebody else's child. I would not let it go unnoticed. After I slapped you upside the head I would discipline my child.

You obviously feel it is appropriate to touch other people's kids so I guess we disagree.

I don't know of any foreign airline and I have flown a number of them, that have the same level of CS that AA has.

<b>Customer Service</b> - (phone and front line)

CX and LA (F and J class) - immovable

BA and IB - (F and J) - front line CS ok (in most cases) but phone CS sucks!

QF - (F) - good

AS - (F) - good

UA - (Y) - ok

DL - (Y) - just ok

US - (Y) - ok

CO - (Y) - good

JL - (Y) - great

AA - (F, J and Y) - always outstanding. If not, the follow up is great!


<b>Flights:</b>

1.QF - outstanding service and food

2.CX - Wonderful

3.AA

4.LA - Average at best in J, except 2 F class flights (outstanding)

5.BA - Average in J, very nice in F.

6.The rest....

JMHO! :-)

CarolA, your attitude is, um, startling. Hitting the back of someone's chair isn't abuse -- it's annoying, but there's a difference between that and physical contact.

Let me put it another way -- which event would prompt you to call the police?: 1. you're sitting in a movie theater and the stranger behind you kicks the seat back; or 2. you're sitting in a movie theater and the stranger behind you grabs your shoulder.

And maybe you don't have a child, or a pet, or a younger sibling about whom you'd feel responsible -- but what would be your reaction if a stranger grabbed your mother's arm (for whatever reason)?

Didn't say it was okay to kick someone's seatback -- I feel homicidal myself about that sometimes, though I don't act on it (at most I say something to the people). But grabbing someone's leg can be considered assault, and if it's a kid, you're over the boundary.

My attitude is startling, but it's OK for another poster the &quot;beat someone to a pulp&quot; ??? Hmm.....

Anyway I didn't take the kids leg so it's a mute point.

That said, I have a friend with signficant bank issues. Hitting the back of her seat would be &quot;abuse&quot; I guess on this board it's ok because &quot;it's my darling child&quot; (I have flown with children, they are NOT allowed to abuse thier fellow passengers. If I can do it so can you....)


I would NOT call the police becasue the stranger behind me grabbed my shoulder. (I wonder how some of you survive the world. If anyone touches you it's a criminal offense?)

Have a nice flight!

Thanks for not answering my question...

I'll assume your coworker didn't attempt to resolve the situation peacefully before making physical contact with a child.

CarolA, I really want to talk to you again if/when you ever have a child of your own.

I can see both sides of this argument. I also want to know, did your coworker bother speaking to the child, parent or FA first, or did she just passive agressively sit there, then get so fed up with the kicking that she had an outburst that resulted in what I would consider physical assault. Sounds like if that's the case, she needs some anger management classes, because it is NOT okay for someone to lash out like that - especially not at a child.

Yes, I also think beating someone to a bloody pulp is extreme, but when my fiance and I have kids (right now we just have several very young cousins), if someone, out of NOWHERE (which is all that we can assume, seeing as you've left out all details except for those describing what a badass, child grabbing freak your coworker is) grabbed our child and TOLD THEM that they, under any circumstances, wouldn't let go? I'd have punched your coworker in the face fast enough so that my fiance wouldn't even be faced with the prospect of hitting a girl.

Now, if I had failed to notice my child's seat-kicking, you can bet it would have stopped immediately after your coworkers polite request. Since there was no polite request, only a physical lashing out, well...I'd tell her to pick on someone her own size, and she'd be more than welcome to try grabbing me - that is if she could still see after I'd nailed her in the face.

And the movie theatre hypothetical was stupid anyway. What kind of psycho would call the cops if the &quot;complete stranger&quot; behind them grabbed their shoulder? Newsflash! Most people behind you in movie theatres ARE complete strangers, and if they touch you for any reason, it's usually to ask you a question. I'd be more pissed at the little prick kicking my seat than someone who touched me to ask a question.

We could have avoided this whole discussion if your coworker were mentally stable. I'll strike a deal with you - in the future, I'll tell my kids not to kick the back of the seat, and you tell your coworker to keep her hands off small children.

By the way - it's a MOOT point, not a mute point. If you're going to get it wrong, at least make it funny like Joey on Friends:

Joey: All right, Rach. The big question is, &quot;Does he like you?&quot; All right? Because if he doesn't like you, this is all a moo point.
Rachel: Huh. A moo point?
Joey: Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo.

<i>I'll tell my kids not to kick the back of the seat, and you tell your coworker to keep her hands off small children.&lt;/&gt;

If people would pay attention &amp; tell their children not to kick the seat in front of them, nobody would touch the little darlings now, would they?
</i>

<b>OK, as the poster who started this thread, I respectfully request all the squabbling about physical violence to stop</b>. There is no reason for anyone to grab, kick, punch, or beat to a pulp, another human being.

At least not without polite discourse first.

Now let's move on to more interesting topics.

This thread is amazing...

A. The fact a child is kicking you from behind does not mean his/her parent is AWARE of it, or is aware that it's annoying you, or maybe the parent is just careless, or oblivious, or just plain stupid?

B. Either way, YOU DO NOT EVER TOUCH THE CHILD. This is criminal behavior! You can only talk (try very politely first, but frimly too) with the parent. Nobody touches a kid but his parent.

C. If that does not help, and especially if the parent is not responsive -- you ask the filght attendant for help, and you leave it for the FA to resolve it.

OMG - and we wonder why we have to deal with a generation that goes into praise withdrawal if not stroked and reassured how special they are at let three times per day, retreats into a solipsist reverie with their MP3 earphones with no concern about the earspray. For god's sake, gently taking the kid's leg in hand is NOT abuse. Being a parent who does not pay sufficient attention to their child to notice that he or she is kicking the seat in front of them IS neglect. And the first time you attempt to slap me up the side of the head is the last time you use that hand for a very long time. We may both be met by uniformed officers on arrival, but you will also be met by medical personnel.
(There - do I sound like a real Texan now? ;-) )

OMG. OMG.

She used these words: &quot;GRABBED the child's leg and said &quot;If you promise not to kick the seat I will let go&quot; -- &quot;Grabbed&quot; can mean a lot of bad things, you know? I don't think you want a total stranger to GRAB your kids arm, or leg, and THREATEN him...

The fact that parent may have been a coplete moron does not allow anybody to deal with the child by GRABBING him, or frightening him!

Seamus, why would you assume it was gentle? She said &quot;GRABBED&quot; in capital letters.

You can not possible feel it is okay to grab a child before you turn around and ask them to stop, ask the parents to control the child, or involve a flight attendent. If the first instinct is to grab the kid then I would bet money there was nothing &quot;gentle&quot; about it.

If you do feel it is okay then I can only assume you have no children of your own.

In the business world, a firm hand-shake is concered the correct way to introduce one self. Schools are taught to use a handshake which involves &quot;touching.&quot;

If this touching of your little darling is too much, GO FIND ANOTHER PLANET TO LIVE ON.&quot;

In the meantime, the next time they kick your chair, introduce yourself with a handshake, and squeeze the &quot;living daylights&quot; out of their hand!

This is an era in which teachers are warned NOT to hug a student, pat a student on the back, or even stand too close in a student's private space. They are put through special training on just these points to avoid accusations of impropriety OR abuse.

If a teacher had &quot;grabbed&quot; a child's leg, there could easily be a hearing. If a stranger &quot;grabbed&quot; a child's leg, 911 would be called within seconds.

You can think kids are too spoiled and indulged nowadays, and in many cases and ways I might agree. But don't even think of grabbing a kid's leg in that situation or risk being put off the plane and barred from passage thereafter.

Don't even think of grabbing a kid's leg in that situation or risk being THROWN OUT OF THE PLAIN!

...At least take your chance when flying over LAND, certainly not over the OCEAN!

Of course, it's PLANE, not PLAIN (God I can ruin jokes...)

Tsokay, Mamamia -- if you do it over an ocean, you might get an unexpected visit to Portland Maine or Rekjavik! (What's the comparable airport for Pacific misbehavior?)