The Beneficence of Baby Banning

I've long been of the opinion that in particular situations, children should be seen and not heard (and in some instances being out of sight is preferable as well), but in my book, the top three are: 1) movie theatres; 2) restaurants; and 3) airplanes. I still have flashbacks to an execrable flight in which a small child shrieked like a howler monkey for an unacceptably long portion of a 10-hour flight. If there was ever justification for some sort of juvenile sedative, that was it.

However, recently a small child obligingly tormented her parents and fellow passengers while the the plane was still parked at the gate, refusing to get in her seat and thereby delaying take-off. After a 15 minute delay, the airline removed the offending toddler and her parents. I tip my hat to AirTrans, who took action despite the realization that that they'd quite possibly get some negative push-back from those who believe that the world revolves around their ill-mannered progeny. True, the child might've been frightened, and I'm not completely devoid of compassion (don't laugh) for parents in that situation. Nonetheless, mini-vans exist for a reason.