Parenting is tough most especially during the infancy stage, wherein babies are completely innocent, fragile, and unpredictable. Whenever they get in a crying fit, sometimes it’s hard to tell what they really need, that parents almost wish that their babies would miraculously speak and tell them what’s going on.
Because of this dilemma, some parents don’t even consider traveling with their babies, most especially when it involves being on a plane. They’re worried about two things: First, their infant might get overwhelmed with all the experience that comes with flying – painful ear popping, strange mealtimes, and the sight of hundreds of strangers. Second, they’re afraid of inconveniencing other passengers when their babies cry.
One parent on a 10-hour flight from Seoul to San Francisco is fully aware of these concerns, especially because she is with her four-month-old infant during the flight. Expecting that her baby would occasionally cry during the long journey, she thought of gifting their co-passengers goodie bags filled with assorted Korean candies along with a pair of earplugs. The unnamed mother handed out a total of 200 bags!
Every pouch came with a note that said:
“Hello, I’m Junwoo and I’m 4 months old. Today I’m going to the U.S. with my mom and grandma to see my aunt. I’m a little bit nervous and scary because it’s my first flight in my life, which means that I may cry or make too much noise. I will try to go quietly, though I can’t make any promises. Please excuse me. So my mom prepared little goodie bags for you! It has some candies and earplugs. Please use it when it’s too noisy because of me. Enjoy your trip. Thank you. :)”
Dave Corona, one of the passengers in the flight, didn’t expect such a great amount of effort, but nevertheless, he was touched by the sweet gesture. He took pictures of the goodie bag, the mother with her child, and the note and shared it on his Facebook account.
He wrote:
“On a Ten hour flight from Seoul Korea to San Francisco, a mother handed out more than 200 goodie bags filled with candy and ear plugs, in case her 4 month old child cried during the flight. A very touching gesture by the mother but as you know when you have kids expect the unexpected. Not a peep out of the kid.”
The story got mixed reactions from the people who saw it and sparked a debate in the comment thread.
Some were impressed by the thoughtful gesture and appreciated the mother who went to great lengths to appease her co-passengers.
“That’s extremely touching and sweet. Very kind gesture. For someone who travels almost weekly I would certainly appreciate that act of kindness.”, said one commenter.
But others believed that it was completely unnecessary, pointing out that the mom didn’t have to apologize for behavior that was natural to babies.
“That was a nice gesture, but I think people need to be more understanding on flights and not make parents and their children feel so “unwelcome” on flights. We were all babies at one point in life.”
How about you? Do you think this gesture was necessary or not?
All photos courtesy of Dave Corona via Facebook.