Mum defends child after Scoot passengers claim he kicked seats: ‘Is it too much to expect some empathy?’
A mother of three has spoken out after fellow Scoot passengers complained that her child was kicking the backs of seats, saying she was “not even that sorry”.
The parent, who goes by @smileybrows on Instagram, shared a post about the incident on Sept 17.
In the post, she said that the people sitting in front of her three children on the Scoot flight were just “suay”, Hokkien for unlucky, adding: “Honestly? I’m not even that sorry.”
She explained that the family was on a Scoot flight bound for Singapore. One of her children, who was below two years old, was sitting on her lap without his own seat.
The child’s hands and legs kept reaching for the seat in front, although his mother said she was “constantly trying to manage him” by pulling his legs back, changing his position, feeding him snacks, or distracting him.
She added that her children were “actually pretty well-behaved” during the flight, explaining that the “occasional screams” and restlessness were quickly resolved.
“We were basically parenting non-stop for the entire flight,” she said.
Passengers complain about child
Nearing landing, her son started kicking a passenger’s seat again, prompting them to inform the cabin crew of the incident. A crew member subsequently approached the family and “apologetically” informed them of the complaint.
The mother said she “eventually went over” to the other passengers to apologise.
“Not because I felt incredibly guilty. But because I acknowledge that getting kicked in the back of your seat is annoying,” she wrote.
Speaking in Mandarin, the passengers apparently replied: “Can you ask him to stop kicking the seats? Because it’s really very uncomfortable.”
‘Is it really too much to expect some empathy?’: Mother
The mother said she understood their complaints, but was “annoyed” as she felt the passengers “weren’t happy about being seated in front of children” from the moment they sat down.
“Is it really too much to expect some empathy?” she asked, adding that the other passengers were “talking pretty loudly” throughout the flight.
“Parents should be considerate. But consideration doesn’t mean keeping your kids completely silent, completely still, and completely invisible for an entire flight,” she said.
“We can try our best without feeling ashamed that our kids exist in public.”
In the comments section, several netizens rallied behind the parent, acknowledging that it was “definitely not easy to fly with young children”.
Another pointed out: “If you want a peaceful flight, take business or first class. If not, as you said, learn to coexist and have some empathy.”
Stomp has reached out to smileybrows for more information.
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