Wednesday's "Wrambling"

Today is day 1 of 5 days of duty. I bid for yesterday off (so I could stay home and work on projects without having to worry that I'd be called away) and was not one of the chosen few. So I am bidding for tomorrow off, as well as for the only 4-day trip on the board (Omaha, Las Vegas, and Indianapolis). I'll know if I got anything in a few hours.

In the meantime, I'll bring up an issue or two that I have been thinking about...

Babies on Airplanes

- Why is it that parents bring their babies on board and immediately ask us for milk? Or juice? Or food for their baby? Do they normally travel with nothing for the child to drink or eat? By the way, we very rarely have milk onboard the aircraft, and if we do, it is for the cereal which we sell during the food service.
- Why don't parents bring a pacifier, a boob, or a bottle for the baby to suck on during take-off and landing, instead of letting the kid scream and be in pain?
- Why do the gate agents put families with babies in the very last row in the window seat?

Older Children on Airplanes

- Why don't the parents bring a new toy or coloring book or such for the kid to play with while we are in the air? Instead, they let the kid destroy the inflight magazine, the Skymall magazine, and the indestructible Safety Information Card.
- Why don't the parents gather their bags and things as others are deplaning, and when their row is open, they're ready to deplane? Instead, they wait until everyone is off the plane, except the flight attendants, and then take their time as they gather their things, not even noticing that the flight attendants need to hurry off the plane to their next flight (or rush to the bus to go home).
- Why don't the parents at least attempt to clean up the mess that their kid makes during the flight? I've seen entire rows trashed with all kinds of smashed cookies, spilled juice, squashed fruit, torn out pages, etc. Aren't these parents embarrassed?
- Why do parents allow their kids to kick the seats in front of them, pull on the passenger's hair, etc.?

Just the other day, a couple with three kids (twin boys and an infant) boarded my flight - and immediately, one of the twins started screaming bloody murder because his Dad didn't let him have the window seat. So I calmly went over to their row, leaned down real low and said to the little boy "We don't allow crying on Frontier! We're the happy airline!" and then walked away. That kid didn't make one cry for the rest of the flight!

I know that these are some of the mysteries of life. But if I can train just one new parent, that'll be one less aircraft with 136 unhappy passengers.

I have spoken.