Plane passenger tells woman complaining about baby to 'get a private jet;' AITA?

Being stuck on a plane with a screaming infant can feel like a special sort of torture during the already nightmarish experience that is sharing a metal tube full of recycled air with impressively inconsiderate humans for hours...

So, when a conflicted passenger decided to consult the moral compass of the internet otherwise known as Reddit's 'Am I the As*hole' about whether or not they were wrong to intervene when a woman was scolding a clearly stressed out mother, people were eager to help.

AITA (Am I the As*hole) for telling a lady on the plane to suck it up and get a private flight next time?

I was on 3.5 flight from London to Athens as I was going to visit my family. Next to me on the plane it was a mom with her around 1 year old baby. The baby was upset and crying almost the entire time, the mom was also in panic mode and would take the baby to the bathroom multiple times to calm him down.

She kept apologizing for the disturbance to both passengers and the crew and I felt bad for her. She seemed extremely young and overwhelmed.

A lady that was sitting on the seats in front of us kind of scolded the mom of the baby and told her word for word 'instead of being a crybaby like your kid, be better prepared next time since none of us are in a mood to hear screeching noises for almost 4 hours. That or leave your baby at home.'

The mom kept apologizing and said she couldn't leave her baby at home since she doesn't have anyone to care for her baby. The lady then said 'Then don't travel it's not a necessity, you chose to travel.'' The mom tried to justify herself saying how it is a necessity for her to travel in this case and it's for a family matter.

The lady kept going and told the mom 'then find other ways to travel then. Get a car and travel or go on a train or bus.' I had enough of this and I stood up for the mom. I asked the lady if she knows how much time it takes to travel from London to Athens in any other way?

And that a train or a bus is as much of a public transport as the plane is? I told her to be compassionate. She told me 'I don't have to be compassionate I paid for my f*ckin seat and I want some peace and quiet.'

I told her to suck it up she's in a public transport. If she wants peace and quiet she should either book first class or a private jet next time. She shut up for the next of the flight but made sure to pass by the mom and the baby and give disapproving side eyes multiple times.

I was describing this story to my friend and she told me I was out of line talking like that to that lady and I should have minded my business. 'Not your circus not your monkeys' is what she said and said I purposely made myself an AH in this situation.

Here's what the jury of internet strangers had to say about the travel dilemma...

omg_pwnies said:

NTA. Standing up for another human being (especially an overwhelmed Mom) is a very good thing to do. And not having to listen to the mean lady for a couple of hours is totally worth it, too.

Brittneygreen said:

NTA. Someone who is clearly struggling and looks overwhelmed is rarely able to stand up for themselves in an unexpected attack like that.

That young mum sounds like she was hanging on by a thread and I bet having someone else advocate for her made a big difference to how she felt on that flight and afterwards as well. You were compassionate.

Too many people look away when someone else is being abused. Good for you for standing up to an obnoxious person who was not helping an already difficult situation.

loopylandtied said:

NTA being trapped in a tin can with a screeching child SUCKS but the mom was trying to soothe the kid. I'm assuming the kids ears hurt the whole flight because crying for 3 hours straight ain't normal. Pissed off passenger was achieving nothing other than making an already Sh*tty situation worse.

West-Kaleidoscope129 said:

NTA - You defended a very clearly upset mother. You were correct that it is public transport and if she wanted quiet she should book something else. You defending that mother won't be forgotten by her any time soon, she will be very appreciative of it for a long time.

VeeJack said:

NTA - you provided great public service .. the mother was probably already embarrassed and upset.

So, there you have it...

Everyone agreed unanimously here that this plane passenger wasn't at all wrong to stand up for a stressed mother. Nobody likes listening to a screaming baby on a plane, but nobody hates it more than the parent who is trying their best to calm their child. Better luck on the next flight, everyone (except for this annoying lady).