The Crying Baby Flight Fright

There are a few questions that I have that are involved in heading home this coming weekend(!).  Some of which are the mundane, like, should we take this laptop?  And even if we do, will there be WiFi?  I'm sure that is something I can look up or make a quick phone call to find out, but I just don't know.  But the bigger question involves the travel day itself.  First off, we're going to take the bus to the airport.  It's the cheapest way we can get there, because parking the car is too expensive and Taxis are very much too expensive around these parts.   I'm not looking forward to riding the bus with a baby and luggage, but we'll save a buck or two in the process, and my lovely wife, who is experienced with the MTA bus system thinks it will be okay, so I'll trust her judgement.  But what time do we have to catch the bus?  How long is our bus ride going to take?  Again, these are questions I can look up the answers to. The bigger question is, how will baby handle buses?  The whole trip, from getting on the bus to getting off the plane, it's going to be a long day.  Baby takes pretty scheduled naps, these days.  I hope she can catch some Z's on one of our shoulders.  I mean, she'll have to.

But speaking of how will baby handle stuff, my second big concern I have is the actual plane ride.  I had the same anxiety about having a baby in the car for a 10 hour car ride, and that turned out to be just fine, because she is an awesome baby.  But babies don't know how to cope with the changing pressure of takeoffs and landings of airplanes.  It can be uncomfortable, and when babies are not happy/uncomfortable, they cry.  Now, I've heard of a lot of people that have complained about having to be stuck on a plane with a crying baby.  I feel really bad that I'm going to be that guy (not the annoyed guy, the guy with the crying baby).  It's most likely going to happen, and I feel the urge to stand up and address the problem with my fellow passengers before we takeoff.

"Hey guys, I know it's sucks to be stuck on an airplane with a crying baby, and I'm sorry you all have to go through this, but honestly, who doesn't have noise-canceling headphones these days?  I mean, c'mon.  Slap em on and let's get to where we're going, already."

We're probably going to annoy some traveler, but you know what?  That sort of comes with the territory of flying with other humans, dude.  I can't help that my baby is crying, okay?  You're gonna have to get over it, because there is nothing you or I can do about it.

Look at how defensive I've already gotten about this?  The plane doesn't even take off until Sunday afternoon and I'm already defending our right to cry on airplanes.  Besides, your anguish of having to deal with a crying baby is nothing compared to the thrill we have of traveling home for Christmas.  So suck it, irritated traveler.  You are no better than anyone, and your problem with crying babies is just a reflection of our own misery that you don't have a family, or anyone that loves you. I mean...I'm assuming.

I'm so excited to go home.  It's going to be great.  Maybe baby will live up to her reputation of being an awesome baby and just be chill the whole time.  It would make the day a lot easier if she does.

See you all next week, folks.  (literary)