He flew into a “blind” rage.
A male passenger has sparked a massive debate over airline etiquette after going to war with a toddler over a window shade, as seen in a viral X video.
“He had to fight a 4-year-old to keep his window down during the flight,” read the caption to the wild clip, which was filmed on an unspecified flight.
In it, said passenger is seen trying to watch “Hocus Pocus 2” as a tyke reaches back and tries to lift their window covering.
The flyer, apparently not willing to be shaded by the tiny terror, responds by yanking the fly-lid back down, kicking off a veritable tug-of-war.
After several rounds, the traveler finally shuts the kid down by holding the cover closed as tiny terror tries to lift it with their finger.
The clip concludes with the tot leaning over the passenger’s seat and putting their hands over his screen in an apparent attempt to steal the flyer’s in-flight entertainment game.
However, critics were divided over who was in the right in this scenario.
Many saw the kid’s behavior as an example of poor parenting, with one writing, “I’m calling the flight attendant, make them reprimand the parent and child.”
“Someone needs to control their child,” declared another.
Meanwhile, a third wondered why the little hellion was monkeying with the passenger’s blind when there was allegedly “a window in front of that spoiled brat.”
Others sided with the child in the window war.
“You have eyelids, let the child enjoy the whimsy of being in a plane watching the land below him,” urged one defender, while another shot, “People who shut the windows while having a window seat should be on a no-fly list.”
“People who want to close the window are the worst type of people… Very inconsiderate,” wrote one armchair airplane expert. “Just because you don’t enjoy beautiful things doesn’t mean you have to make everyone else suffer. Sad all around for both sides.”
What did air experts make of the situation?
A View From The Wing Contributor Gary Leff sided with the passenger, citing the basic airplane rule dictating that the “window seat passenger owns the window, and passengers in their own row own that row’s window shade.”
“If I’m the passenger (and good heavens if I’m flying Emirates coach), I’d ask the parent, ‘Could you help keep hands/feet on your side of the row? I’m keeping the shade down to see the screen,’” he wrote. “Then I’d call a flight attendant for help.”
However, Leff chastised the passenger for attempting to “wrestle a kid through a wall.”
Of course, there are a few caveats to the shade rule.
According to Leff, a crew member may decide that blinds need to be down to accommodate passenger sleep while shades should be up during takeoff and landing so passengers’ eyes can acclimate, thereby making them more prepared in the event of an evacuation.
Meanwhile, Leff encourages passengers to be considerate regardless of who owns the window.
“If someone asks you to put the window shade down (or up) consider accommodating them, especially if they have a strong preference and you do not,” the flight expert wrote. “Don’t just arbitrarily do the thing they object to, or object to moving the position of the shade for its own sake.”
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