Man Shares Reality Of Sitting In Front Of Screaming Child On Plane: 'It Was Very, Very Annoying!'

No part of this story can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.

If you've ever been on a flight with a screaming child, you'll know the feeling.

You put on your headphones, turn up the volume and pray the noise cancellation works.

Former cabin crew member Ejad Shukri (@ejadshukri) recently found himself in exactly that situation while seated in the last row of Business Class on a flight from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur.

It was only about an hour long.

Unfortunately for the former Malaysian Airlines cabin crew, it was a rather eventful hour.

He was seated in Row 3, while a young boy was seated directly behind him in the first row of Economy.

In a video lasting more than a minute, Ejad can be seen looking increasingly resigned as the child screams behind him.

At several points, he simply lets out a sigh. Honestly, the man has the patience of a saint.

But according to Ejad, the crying wasn't actually what bothered him most.

It was what allegedly happened after the aircraft had already started moving.

In his Instagram post, Ejad said the boy had already been making noise during boarding.

At first, he didn't think much of it. “Kids will be kids”, he reasoned.

"Once the aircraft started pushing back, all hell broke loose!" he later wrote.

According to Ejad, the child refused to remain seated or be buckled up, and continued crying and screaming.

Ejad said the newer Boeing 737 had a half-divider between Business Class and Economy, which meant the little boy could apparently crawl underneath it.

At one point in the video, a tiny pair of hands suddenly reaches towards Ejad's seat from behind, giving the former flight attendant quite a fright.

"Kid, what's wrong with you?" he wrote in Malay.

Ejad then joked that he might pick the boy up and put him in the empty Business Class seat beside him.

Or, failing that, the overhead compartment could apparently fit him too.

It was a joke, people. Please do not put children in overhead compartments.

He was more bothered by the safety issue

According to Ejad, the child's parents appeared preoccupied with their phones and only tried to buckle the boy in when the aircraft was approaching takeoff.

"What irritated me most wasn't even the crying," wrote Ejad. "It was the fact that the parents seemed to think it was okay to let him be until the aircraft was ready for takeoff, THEN only nak buckle him up," he wrote.

And this is where Ejad's former cabin crew instincts kicked in.

"From pushback to taxiing, anything can happen tau! A sudden stop, sudden braking, or even a slight jolt could send the poor boy flying!" he wrote.

"As an ex-cabin crew, I know how important it is for everyone to be properly secured before the aircraft starts moving."

Speaking to 8days.sg, Ejad explained that the child was travelling as part of a family of four, his parents and younger sister, who was sitting on her mother's lap.

According to Ejad, the father was doing most of the trying to calm the boy down, but nothing seemed to work.

He believes the parents may eventually have decided to let the child settle himself for a while and simply buckle him in before takeoff.

"But by then, it could've been a little too late. That's a HUGE risk to take. There are just so many what-ifs running through my mind right now," Ejad told us.

And then there was the small matter of a pair of tiny hands reaching into his Business Class seat.

"I was actually quite startled! Although I was aware of the half-height cabin divider, I honestly wasn't expecting him to suddenly go underneath it and grab my arm!" he tells us.

"But once the initial shock wore off, I got really annoyed again when I realised he was still not in his damn seat! We were already taxiing towards the end of the runway, for goodness' sake!" he added.

The good news? The child eventually settled down once the aircraft was in the air.

"Yes, the kid finally settled down the moment the plane took to the skies. I'd say he was probably just anxious. But who could blame him, right?" he tells us.

Still, Ejad says the situation was particularly frustrating because the family was seated right behind him.

"It was a bit annoying, actually, watching the father struggle to comfort his boy and constantly looking towards his wife, hoping she could help," he told us.

"It was quite a commotion back there, and since they were seated directly behind me, it was VERY, VERY annoying!"

Even so, he thinks his former cabin crew experience helped him keep his cool.

"But funny you should mention it. I think my cabin crew experience actually helped me handle the whole situation a little more maturely, I suppose. A part of me wanted to scream out loud, but at the same time, my brain was like, 'Noooo, Ejad! DON'T!’” he laughs.

Now, we wonder if the parents got down to apologising to Ejad or anyone on the flight.

"Nope. Nope. And NOPE!" Ejad told 8days.sg, laughing.

He says the family was still trying to get through the curtains after the flight, while Business Class passengers had yet to disembark.

He watched as a Business Class crew member stopped the father from reaching for his luggage in the overhead compartment while the boy was already trying to get through the curtains.

"I could've said something, I know. But for the sake of my own mental health, hahahahaha, I decided to just give them THE STARE and hope they got the message," he said.

As for whether anyone else in Business Class reacted, Ejad says he isn't sure.

"And the crying? I mean, it was LOUD, okay. VERY LOUD!" he said.

Despite his frustration, Ejad has repeatedly stressed that he has nothing against children.

"Babies cry, kids throw tantrums, sometimes they're hungry, sleepy, uncomfortable, or simply being kids. I get it!" he wrote in his original post.

His advice to parents was to make sure their children are rested, fed and comfortable before boarding, and to bring toys, snacks or other distractions to keep them occupied.

But his main message wasn't really about keeping children quiet.

It was about keeping them safe once the aircraft starts moving.

"Nobody expects your child to behave perfectly throughout the flight. But when your child is moving around an aircraft that's already pushing back or taxiing, that's no longer just about crying or throwing tantrums," he wrote.