Man Reports A Child To Flight Attendant After She Spilled Glitter On Him During A Flight — 'He Has No Understanding Of Children'
Children can be messy, but there should be a time and place for it. An airplane is not one of those places.
Reddit / MNStudio / Shutterstock While a man was seated next to a young child on a flight, the little girl repeatedly spilled remnants of her art project on him. After failing to get the attention of her mother to ask her to do something politely, the man discreetly alerted a flight attendant.
The girl’s mother then went on to harass the man for the remainder of the flight, claiming that he is “selfish with no understanding of children.” Now, the man is wondering if he should have said anything in the first place and should have tolerated his messy seatmate better.
The man reported the child to a flight attendant after she spilled glitter on him.
Sharing his story on the subreddit, "r/AmItheA-–hole," the man revealed that while on a recent flight, he was seated next to a mother and her young daughter who looked to be around five or six years old.
“They brought a bunch of arts and crafts to keep the kid busy — things like a glue stick, markers, paper, craft sticks,” the man wrote. “Sounds cute, right? Well, not when the glitter came out.”
The little girl, whom the man refers to as “Glitter Godzilla,” repeatedly spilled glitter on him since she was in the middle seat next to him. Not only did the glitter coat his pants, but also his personal belongings.
Photo: MNStudio / Shutterstock
“The glitter and marks from the glue stick rolling off the gray table was everywhere - on my shoes, my backpack, and my jeans,” the man added.
While he acknowledged that he is patient with children and knows that they can be messy, he was beginning to grow agitated that his clothes and belongings were getting covered in glitter. He attempted to get the girl’s mother’s attention to ask her to politely tell her child to stop spilling the glitter everywhere.
“I tried catching the mom's eye, hoping she'd step in. But she just gave me a blank look like, ‘This is how it is,’” the man wrote. “I’m not confrontational so when I got up to use the bathroom, I quietly shared the situation with a flight attendant. She promised to discreetly address it.”
The child's mother claimed that the man was 'selfish' with 'no understanding of children.'
After the man got up to use the restroom and returned to his seat, the angry mother was waiting for him after the flight attendant spoke with her. “The mom claimed I was being discriminatory against mothers, and since the flight was delayed she was just trying to keep her child entertained,” he shared.
“Then she started raising her voice, accusing me of being ‘a selfish man with no understanding of children.’ All this despite the fact that my lower half now looks bedazzled.”
Since the flight was full and there were no more available seats, the man was stuck next to the mother for the entire ride, where she continued hurling verbal insults at him. While the flight attendants gave the man looks of sympathy, they did nothing to intervene.
“I travel a lot and this was the flight from hell,” the man revealed. “Not to mention it was pretty embarrassing in the airport. Not that I can blame people for taking notice.”
Photo: Song_about_summer / Shutterstock
The man asked other Redditors if he should have remained quiet and dealt with becoming “a human art project.”
Others sided with the man, agreeing that glitter was inappropriate and inconsiderate to bring on a plane.
A plane is not a child's classroom. If you bring arts and crafts, it shouldn't be anyone else's responsibility but the parents' to clean it up, and they shouldn't be surprised if people are put off by it,” one user commented.
“Having a kid doesn't mean you get to impose their messes on anyone else. The kid should have also been in the window seat,” another user pointed out.
While traveling with young children is no walk in the park and it is difficult to keep them entertained on long flights with delays, there are methods of entertainment parents can utilize that do inconvenience their fellow passengers.
Snacks, virtual games, and quiet toys are all prime examples of how children can keep themselves occupied that do not involve glitter explosions.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.