Long Plane Fight

One story to note from the traveling home yesterday. The last of the 3 flights was Zurich (Switzerland) to LAX. In Zurich, the flight was delayed by 1.5 hrs due to the snowy weather. There was about 6" of the fresh stuff.

Upon boarding the plane, my seat was in the first row of the section (6K), with the bulkhead in front of me. My seat neighbor was a chatty Arizone native who has lived in Paris for the past 20ish years as a language instructor. She had more of an East coast personality than a West coast, and perhaps that's why she loves Par-hee so much. Another row neighbor (sitting at the opposite window 6A) was a heavy lady holding a very determined, upset young infant. We waited through 3 planes to get de-iced before ours was given attention, then had some minor waiting for the runway. The infant was still not satisfied & we had not even left the ground. By this point, the man sitting next to the mother/baby had already been reseated w/ the help of the flight attendant.

No worries, I'll just flip on the movie. The plane levels out at cruising altitude. I'm done w/ two short documentaries that were commentated by the crying baby and all the meanwhile being interrupted by my seat neighbor's own documentary on the mother/baby drama. The baby was now waling away in the bulkhead-mounted crib. The mother was sitting in her seat trying to ignore it. What is the deal? Perhaps a young/new mother? Perhaps the kid is not hers & she's just transporting it?

Next, appetizers are served. In order to pass the time on flights, I minimize multi-tasking; I do not eat and watch the movie at the same time(if it's on a personal pause-able movie screen). I just eat. Then I watch the movie. My neighbor opened up the movie pause for more venting. This meal was not going to be pleasant, let alone the flight, if the baby didn't stop nor the neighbor stopped.

What to do? Get up and go do something about it.

With my appetizer plates still on the fold tray, I squeezed out & crossed the plane to this noisy crib. I smiled & greeted the mother, not knowing what language she spoke, then poked my head over the little peace-reaper and started to baby-talk it. The thing didn't care. It exercised it's lungs (and coughing) at the same level. It at least prompted the mother to pick it up and hold it.

We started chatting. The baby (Anthony) is 6 months old and has baby bronchitis. It's very sick, hence the noise. She asked me if I'd mind holding Anthony so she could use the restroom. Being trained by my 2nd cousins once removed, and wanting to do something about the noise, I was only happy to oblidge. Standing at the bulkhead, I cradled the critter so it faced the rest of the passengers and provided some gentle bouncing. The crying immediately subsided. Emphasize immediately. Soon passengers were all looking, smiling and sighing... apparently the terror's grimace mutated into a grin. The mother came back & upon being instructed to sit & relax, we continued chatting. Jeez.

She is from Switzerland, currently living in North Hollywood with her husband of 1.5 years. She got pregnant w/ Anthony after a month of marriage. She is 21 years old. She was visiting her family for the holidays while her husband had to work in Los Angeles. On Tuesday night she received a call saying that her husband's friend found him unconscience on the floor. Apparently he had a seisure due to some brain pressure. The hospital confirmed he has a brain tumor and he's on life support in a coma. She is on her way to see him. Nuts.

At this point some bathroom patrons, hallway exercisers, and eavesdroppers were hearing her story. It wasn't just a frustrated baby with an unattentive mother. It was a very sick baby with a very distracted mother.

Little Anthony continued his quiet streak while wearing out my arms. After 20-30 minutes, I propped him up in the bulkhead crib so he could look around. His mom cradled him for a bit and he went to sleep within the hour... not another angry peep from him. We all followed suit soon enough.

The rest of the awake hours Anthony could be found in different women's arms and chairs. It had become a group effort to help out him and his mom. At one point, Anthony was bottle feeding 2 rows behind his mom. Even while she was awaiting her luggage at baggage claim, there was a stranger there occupying Anthony in her arms while the mother dealt with the present situation.

It was tremendous to witness this whole affair. To watch an ugly scene become beautiful... simply by being there to help.