Thanks Holly - glad you enjoyed it. Honor compels me to confess that I am not in fact an actual baby (I am the 50-something who also posted as "ban everybody" above), but I feel certain that I was accurately representing the views of babies when I assumed the nom-de-plume.

I am really blown over by "thetruth". He is SO clever. <BR> <BR>MT

Dear Mr. Twain - <BR> <BR>Thank you for your kind words (although I am a "she" rather than a "he"). You are one of my favorite authors, so it is wonderful to hear from you, especially since I had gotten some (evidently erroneous) reports that you had expired some time ago. Glad you're still extant. <BR> <BR>All the best. <BR> <BR>

Thank you to "the truth" for your reality check to all those who have been askewed from reality and bent into selfish and shallow individuals. Give me a break! I bet half of these posters are not even parents! Listen, I do think that parents have a responsibility to entertain their child but perfection is not attainable in this world. I am traveling for the first time with my 2 1/2 yr old and I take with me no expectations, high spirits, and as much creative energy as I can muster for you travelers that may be on my plane.

Aw no, not this well-worn rant about having to be a parent before I can complain. Total puerile rubbish. <BR> <BR>Baby/Ban everbody - your post is let down in one essential area - frequency. Kids and adults can all be anti-social at times however kids tend to it more often than adults.

There is a difference between the child adult misbehavior problem. Adults on European bound flights are now being held accountable for their actions through actual criminal proceedings. You land they come on the plane arrest your sorry butt. End of story. <BR> <BR>Now children on the other hand can't be held accountable for their actions. They are only products of their parents. So hold the parents accountable. C'mon rather then Mom going to the spa she can now work on a chain gang.

Tony - I of course agree that the frequency of children's social infractions exceeds that of adults'. But since the potential severity of children's (mis)behavior is so much less serious, I consider that an important mitigating factor: I'd still take a ratio of 1000 crying babies to 1 bomb ;-&gt; <BR> <BR>My previous posts attempted to be humorous, but I'd like to add something more seriously. I hope it doesn't sound too saccharine or sanctimonious - I'm aiming for some polite and thoughtful communication here, so I'll do my best to start it out in that direction. <BR> <BR>I personally really strongly believe that we all, as humans on this planet, have a stake in raising physically and emotionally healthy children whether we have any of our own or not. Common human decency aside, at the very least there is a selfish reason to be interested in the next generation or two: who do you think is gonna grow our food, perform our surgeries, or fly our planes on all our wonderful travels when we're 70? Another 70 year old? No thanks. (OK, I'm sure there are plenty of 70-year-olds who could do all that just fine, but you get the idea - I'm already tired at 50!) <BR> <BR>One of the things I've noticed in my years of traveling and living in both Asia and Europe (I am a US native) is how different cultures treat children, their own and other people's, both publicly and privately. And I must say, in my view, the US does not have a great deal to be proud of vis-a-vis many other countries in that regard. The underlying assumption in the US too often seems to be that children are sort of like dogs: if you like them in a general sort of way, or if you currently have some of your own, you are willing to put up with the necessary inconveniences they cause, and if you don't like them as a group, or no longer have one, you think they should be a)kept at home or b)kept on a leash and that you have no responsibility towards them at all. <BR> <BR>I believe the cluelessness exhibited by some parents and the attendant public misbehavior of some young children can, in some small part at least, be attributed to the lack of general social support, tolerance and understanding both parents and children often encounter here. Part of the problem in the US is the heterogeneity of our culture - a diversity of beliefs and expectations is a blessing in many ways, but it can be confusing to young children, and to their parents too. (To xxx who seems to relish the idea of mothers (why not fathers?) being arrested because their baby misbehaved: did you know that in the US mothers have been arrested for slapping their children in public? The messages we give parents in our country are incredibly contradictory and hypocritcal.) In countries I have been in that have much more homogeneous expectations for children's behavior, and more social support for the parents, the public behavior of young children seems to conform much more to those expectations. <BR> <BR>We, as travelers, are presumably a group of people interested in differences and willing to tolerate inconveniences (like even sitting on a plane for 9 hours in the first place) in the pursuit of knowledge and wide experience. So I would just ask people to exhibit those same qualities towards young children and their frazzled, incompetent (did you do anything perfectly the first time you did it?) parents. <BR> <BR>Then maybe the children who kick seats at two won't become the adults who bring a bomb on the plane at 22!

Nice thought. But since I'm not allowed to punish anyone else's kids in any way, shape, or form, without getting 1) arrested, or 2) sued, that's all it will be. Not the kids' fault, in part not the parents' fault either. But it's hard for me to consider myself responsible for anyone else's children when I can't do anything about them to suit what I think the situation calls for. <BR> <BR>I would be far more tolerant if I could put my 2 cents in, but the most I can do is tell the parents what lousy parents they are, or complain. Not that either do much good.

xxx, "When the kid craps his pants or pukes all over the place, then what do you do?". Are we to take it that you were one of those perfect babies who did not have a bowel movement? That is truly fascinating. Don't you think you should have been the subject of some important medical research?

Curious has a point. I like it when the kid in the seat next to me craps their pants. Especially at mealtime.

Zed: were you so desperate to have the last word? This post had been dead for over 2 weeks and you dug it up. <BR> <BR>These posts about kids, sex, and such are always the same, everyone just argues. Let it go.