Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for August 09, 2009

Poor kid…teething…ears in pain from air pressure…parents don’t love him enough to buy him his own ticket so he can be safely strapped in in an infant seat….

and he couldn’t escape because he was trapped by two jumbos.

That will be me on Sept. 15th at 10 PM as I fly from Seattle to Dulles.

Think how his poor parents feel! It’s horribly embarrassing to be on a plane when your baby is crabby.

I’ve been there many times before and can sympathize. Air lines should hand out hearing protection for these possibilites. It may not eliminate the sound, but it may deaden it some.

The airline should hand out Valium, for me not the kid

Or maybe the problem is perspective. It is annoying, but it *is* only a kid crying.

Like for pets, airlines should have a “kiddie compartment”, soundproof, of course.

The las time I was on a plane, I was flying my three week old son home after his open heart surgery. He cired almost the entire time. I was in tears (having not slept in about 60 hours). I apologized to everyone around me and explained why we were on th flight. They almost all forgave him and the incredibly nice man sitting next to me said, “That’s alright , hon. You just let him cry and be thankful that he can.” I am everyday.

Whipping the boob out is probably the best way to get a crabby baby through a flight with everyone’s sanity intact.

Ironically this tends to work well placating crabby grown-up men too.

Works for me.

GuntotingLiberal - just make sure there’s enough to go around! XD

Pure torture is being in the middle seat with two behemoths that are using their seat and part of yours as well.

To Lewreader: c’mon… you can’t even get the peanuts on flights anymore!! I’ve got a flight from Montana to Scotland coming up soon… earplugs are on the TOP of the shopping list (next to the Dramamine and real snacks to munch on–screw pretzels!!!))

On a 12 hour trip to Japan, my 1 year old wasn’t always crying because of hunger or a need for pacification. I tried the boobies first everytime she’d sound off, but they don’t work like a muffler when the baby is still crying. We later learned that the pressurization can cause painful gas to form, and intense ear pain for infants. Then there’s sheer boredom and frustration when an active toddler must remain strapped in during long stretches of turbulence. The return flight went better with a dose of Tylenol and baby gas medicine, but still less than trouble-free.

This is what happens when you’re stuck in a hollow metal canister for hours.

What ever happened to those covered wagons.

why g-grandma carried paragoric

GuntotingLiberal, just whose boob should be whipped out?

Whatever happened to having pillow fights on a plane trip to relieve the tension? (Or am I in a minority here? That last one was a BLAST!! Even the flight attendants got in on the act…)

iamtxmilady, bless you and your child, too. Enjoyed all the comments here – thanks everyone!

I always take the train, … unless there’s an ocean in the way.

runninanreadin: “Whatever happened to having pillow fights on a plane trip to relieve the tension? (Or am I in a minority here? That last one was a BLAST!! Even the flight attendants got in on the act…)”

Don’t you know? The TSA declared pillows to be “weapons of mass distraction” and prohibited the use of them onboard aircraft for any kind of fun.

I’ve got a flight coming up and I’m worried about this very situation. Does anyone here have experience with the Bose QuietComfort headphones, or similar ones by other companies, such as Sennheiser? Do they work as advertised? Are they worth the money? Are they comfortable to wear for several hours?

The baby is pretty bad, but if you ask me, being stuck between two huge people is much worse. They should at least be sympathetic enough to put the armrests down first.

There’s a reason God invented opium.

iamtxmilady , I’m super-glad everything went ok with the surgery …. and I for one agree with the man who stated ” be thankful he still can cry ” Our children are our most valuble assets ; and anyone who was annoyed by it obviously doesn’t know the joy of being a parent . ( Or the joy of being a human being for that matter …. )

After the first half hour it would be better…because that’s when you go completely DEAF

Boy oh boy – that could have been drawn for my husband and me. On an 8 hr. 40 min. flight from Nice (France) to JFK last Thursday, little kids and babies carried on at full pitch the entire time. It was like a flying insane asylum. Then – just as our ears had stopped ringing and we looked forward to a peacful flight to Pittsburgh, here came a family that included a baby that SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER the entire time.

It would be nice if there were some safe medication that could be given to disruptive children. But that won’t happen in my lifetime. It isn’t fair for the paying public to have their sanity challenged by other people’s disruptive and noisy offspring.

Ugh! I don’t like noise, but having flown before I can well understand why the kid was crying!

I’m glad everything went well with your baby too.

Boy oh boy – that could have been drawn for my husband and me. On an 8 hr. 40 min. flight from Nice (France) to JFK last Thursday, little kids and babies carried on at full pitch the entire time. It was like a flying insane asylum. Then – just as our ears had stopped ringing and we looked forward to a peacful flight to Pittsburgh, here came a family that included a baby that SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER the entire time.

It would be nice if there were some safe medication that could be given to disruptive children. But that won’t happen in my lifetime. It isn’t fair for the paying public to have their sanity challenged by other people’s disruptive and noisy offspring.

The boob often works because swallowing is a good way to equalise the pressure in the inner ear (or even a bottle or drink of water). Lets remember that small kids don’t understand what is happening, so may be frightened. Its the older kids that keep kicking the seat I don’t like.

I would have more trouble with the crowding than with the kid. I always carry earplugs, but I don’t know any way to deal with being squeezed in by others. I’d have a massive case of the willies if I didn’t get leg clots.

Seemed to me that I am the last person to post the comment for NON-Sequitur. Sighhhhh! Oh well!

carmy said, about 21 hours ago

and he couldn’t escape because he was trapped by two jumbos

ROFL harder! I add “balloon jumbos! BWAAAHHAAAAHAAAAHAAA!

They could just find the kids some parents – on a 3 hour flight from Detroit to Seattle one mom didn’t think to say “stop it” until we landed – but when she said it, voila, the kid stopped it. Yes babies teeth and have ear problems, but smart parents keep them occupied (my in laws bought the front seats so they could let their 3 kids play in the area in front of the seats and they were quiet from England to Miami).

I loved the art work. The screaming kid’s mouth with Joe’s head in it and then the airplane flyiing from it really expressed the frustration of the situation and in a very funny way.

If the airlines really cared, which they don’t, they would have a soundproof baby cabin for families with children -like some movie theaters with soundproof crying baby rooms where moms can continue watching the movie without bothering others.

Airlines should put kids down in cargo with pets. Pets & kids would be happy!

Seriously, airlines need soundproof section for those screaming parents … or … they need to give them a tiny sleeping pill to knock them out. I can’t begin to count the number of miserable flights I’ve been on with screaming kids.

And, all airlines MUST make obese customers pay for 2 seats; why should I have to have to share my seat that I paid … with an overweight person who has no self-control?

FINALLY a cartoon by Willey where nobody tries to turn the simple punchline into a political statement. :)