If you have ever been around a baby — a toddler or a child even — pretty much anyone who is not an adult, you know that they can be highly emotional. Sometimes they cry, especially when they are babies and don't talk yet. There's a lot of crying because they have no other means of expressing their feelings of hunger, anger, frustration, or loneliness. As adults, we just have to deal with it. Or is it just parents who should have to put up with it?
Should other adults be subjected to a child's screaming? What if you're somewhere where you don't have a choice, such as on a flight — especially a long flight. Are you allowed to feel frustrated with all the noise? A TikToker who was in this very situation is going viral for recording a baby on his long-haul flight and rating the child's screams as the flight went on. As you can imagine, people have all kinds of thoughts on the situation.
The situation took place on an International flight.
Flights with kids are challenging. They can be particularly hard on babies. TikToker Henry Beasley, known as @balubrigada, was recently on what he said was a 29-hour flight to Berlin. During his travels, a very unhappy baby was among those traveling.
Beasley put together a 26-second clip of various moments during the flight when you can hear the baby bellowing in the background. The lighting on the plane changes over time, so one can deduce that this child's disapproval of the flight went on for a long, long time.
Beasley offers commentary about the screams.
There is no sound in the clip other than the baby's screams. Beasley never says a word, but text and emojis appear across the screen. He begins with, "Rate my 29-hour flight to Berlin."
Next, the screen reads, "Strong start."
"The kid's got some lungs," it follows.
"Great projection."
"A nice long one here," followed by the 100 emoji and "Kettle's boiled."
The cabin goes dark, and Beasley's clip reads, "Bring it on home here. Stellar performance, incredible stamina 10/10," followed by a few hands clapping.
The TikTok quickly went viral.
The short and somewhat humorous clip has racked up 12.6 million views. That's a lot of people and even more opinions. More than 32,000 TikTokers have given their thoughts on the video. Some love it, and some think it's totally insensitive to the parent and child.
It begs these questions: Is it wrong to let a child scream like that in public? Is it just a part of life? What can a parent actually do in this situation?
Of course, some people said they'd lose their minds on that kind of flight.
Not everyone has the patience to handle a child having that kind of meltdown. To be honest, I'm a mom, and I don't know how well I'd handle listening to that in a confined space for so many hours. And that's a valid point of view.
Some TikTokers were on Beasley's side. Why should anyone have to deal with this?
"I think my tubes just tied themselves," one woman commented.
Some thought that it was the parent's fault. "I'm not even angry at the kids, I'm so mad at the parents, how are they not able to control their own children? There are so many ways smh," one person wrote.
"And then parents post videos of their kids calling everyone else "karens" bc they don't wanna hear THIS on a flight like this is a nightmare," someone else chimed in.
But what about the parents?
Surely no parent wants their child to be screaming like this. Plenty of people could empathize with how tough this must have been for everyone.
"I feel so bad for those parents .. they must be so stressed out…not to mention all the judgemental people just adding to their personal horror," one comment read.
"I can promise you the mom is also not having any fun. I bet her anxiety is through the roof and on the verge of tears," one TikToker suggested. "So pls respect everyone."
"I understand but I feel so bad for the parents as well because they're not tryna do anything wrong and they're probably getting so many looks," another person wrote.
Some other users stitched the video to give their opinions — and lots of love for the parents who were surely distraught over the situation.
But what about the airline? Should flight attendants have stepped in?
You can't exactly kick a child off a plane mid-flight. Should they be offering vouchers for other passengers? It's a hot debate.
"I am so sorry for you! This is just unacceptable," one person commented. "Major airlines need to take this more seriously and reserve entire sections of the plane for families."
Others want kids out of the air completely.
"Kids ears are probably popping, mine used to hurt on a drive through the hill country, can't imagine a flight. Kid-free flights should be a thing," someone wrote.
This isn't the first time that we'll ever see a TikTok with a screaming baby. But perhaps we should all heed a bit of advice from many of the commenters and outfit ourselves with a pair of noise-canceling headphones before boarding our next flight.
