Seat 13D.
No matter how prepared you are, traveling out of the country or period can be stressful. Throw in some kids to those international travel plans and you have a shit show. Getting ready for a basic outing can send me over the edge some days, I can't process us being detained in Mexico because Ayva has lost her passport and confessed to being a drug Lord at her daycare.
Paul and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Mexico ALONE! When booking I carefully selected our seats, we needed additional leg room so I upgraded which also allowed us to board early. Boarding early means people watching it also means praying you get a good neighbor. On the flight there the plane was full because it was delayed, it WAS NOT full when I checked in the day before so I was excited about the possibility of not having to sit next to anyone but Paul. No big deal, this is vacay, nothing is going to bother me, our seats include free drinks too so I am GOOD! Good until a lady with an extremely busy toddler and the rest of her family are trying to figure out who sits where. Now listen, I am a mom of 4, I would have been totally fine sitting next to a kid BUT Lord knows I was praying that I would not have to sing baby shark for 3 hours and keep some kids hands off my thighs (kids love playing with fat). Well out of all 343545 seats on the fight guess whose assigned seat was next to mine, the busy toddler boy. The Lord had no sympathy for me, I just can't escape kids, but I knew once we got to our resort there would not be a kid in site so I gave myself a pep talk and swallowed the pill, chased with Jack and Coke. Then Jesus sent an Angel in the form of a young lady traveling with her mom and agreed to switch seats with the busy toddler boy so he can be next to his mom! Let me say though, once the flight took off, busy toddler boy went to bed, I felt bad for a hot second but was glad him and his mom were able to get some rest, apparently they had been traveling since that morning, their original flight was delayed so they had been up since like 6 am. I will say this again, had he sat next to me, I would have been the best plane auntie I could be. Come back to my "awesome" neighbor, she pulled out a sandwich and some sour cream and onion chips, sour cream and onion, I wanted to trade her for the boy.. ok back to the story.
Fast forward to the flight back home, we sat in the same seats, 16 E and F, we were surrounded by sleepy couples, the flight was pretty quiet and dark. I noticed a Chinese lady get up and take her kid to the bathroom, come back drop the kid off with dad and then went back herself. She was in an aisle seat directly across from the child and dad was next to the child in the middle. I had no idea it was 2 kids until we got off the plane. I barely heard them, I remember giggles a little chatter NOTHING disruptive for 2 kids under the age of 6. We are 20 minutes away from landing and you can hear the kids talking and I hear a female voice say "Why don't you try being quiet, that would be great" I looked at the mom and I thought I saw her head and mouth moving, I giggled and thought, damn she has a smart mouth like me!
There was no back and forth no commotion just silence, I asked Paul "Did you hear that mama"? and he said "That wasn't the mama, that was the lady in front of them". I was like "Bull shit, I know damn well ain't nobody said that to another persons kid" and I said it just like.
<------ THE LOOK ON MY FACE!
He put his headphones back in and I tuned in because now I am confused. A couple of minutes later the lady occupying Seat 13 D, tanned, blonde hair, highlights, some lowlights, hi pony tail turns back to the mom and says "I wasn't trying to be rude". YA'LL... I whispered to myself "The nerve of this bitch" Did she REALLY rudely, directly address these peoples kid and now she is turning to the mom for a peace offering. The lady next to the mom is looking at her like, are you OK? The mama just kind of smiled looked at the kids and looked straight ahead, it was clear there was a language barrier. So here I am wanting to throw something at this broad but I was like ok, she said it, she kind of apologized, the mom is ok, we are done. She didn't stop there, she proceeds to pull out a trick or treat sized bag of candy and offer the kids blow pops, she is talking louder asking the dad what flavors they like because of course idiots think talking louder when there is a language barrier helps the person understand them. He accepts the candy, she is talking to the kids in baby language, "Yea, candy, you like candy"? She is either tipsy or hung over. We are down to minutes in the flight by now, surely after this whack peace offering she is done right, WRONG. She turns around again because what happens when you give kids candy and talk to them, you are now friends and they want to talk to you, she says to the dad, again loud "The candy helps right, it keeps them quiet" with a fake smile and laugh, he (the dad) nods his head. She is being obnoxious and by now everyone around is looking at her in disbelief and shock. I wasn't close enough to address her but she was loud enough for us to hear her, she was in fact more disruptive than the kids.
By this time we are landed, we are pulling in so we can get off the plane, I am not sure what triggered her even further but her last comment was "Hey kid, I gave you candy, knock it off", LISTEN... she caught all of us off guard, my mouth opened and my eyes were wide, I was speechless, clutched my pearls. She bullied that family, that entire family and I bet money had that been another family her balls would not have been that big. She was with a man, appeared to be her husband, I was thinking, damn he isn't going to say anything to her, her behavior was trash. She got both of their suitcases down and I know she could feel the stares, I just wanted to get close enough to her to say something, I wasn't sure what, my mouth was loaded with verbal bullets, I just needed to be close enough so she KNEW I was talking to her. I do not like confrontation, I am not a physical fighter but verbally, I am sure my words can draw blood. As we exited the doors to get to customs ALL still in shock I see the family to the side, the little girl had thrown up, I got even more upset, I offered the mom some wipes she BARELY spoke English and said thank you, she had some. Her not speaking English gave me a little relief and let me know why she was so calm, she couldn't really gauge the woman bitchy attitude. So here I am feeling helpless, I wanted to come to that families defense, I wanted her to know that I understand she wanted some peace but there is a way to handle things and honestly, I wanted to make her feel like shit. BUT LISTEN, when we turned that corner at customs that husband was laying into her ass, HE WAS HOT AS FISH GREASE ON A FRIDAY IN THE HOOD YA'LL. This man was so hot he cussed her out, checked into customs and LEFT. Full on entered into America, went through his check and left her at the Global check station. I felt a sigh of relief that not only did someone check her for her behavior that is was someone close to her.
I can't say what I would have done had that been Ayva, Kayla or Pryze, security would probably have been waiting when we got off the plane is all I can guarantee. I could understand if she was going through something but she wasn't she was hungover and entitled. I am big on ensuring my kids are not a disruption in public, I have seen some disruptive kids, these kids were not that.
To the lady in seat 13D I hope the next time you fly you give the same grace to the next set of parents that God gave you on Friday on flight 1068. Because it was nothing but God himself that saved your stupid ass from an open hand by putting the right family behind you. The next set of parents just might pull your card to see how tough you really are. To the rest of you, parenting is challenging, traveling can be stressful, its like paying to take your kids somewhere else to babysit them. You will only see us during your flight, have some patience and a little empathy, I promise you are going to need it in return one day.