It was supposed to be a simple two-hour flight with my 5-year-old daughter, Ella. She was happily watching her favorite cartoons on her iPad, headphones on, completely absorbed in her little world. Across the aisle, a boy around Ella’s age kept glancing at her screen, his whining growing louder by the minute. His mom, who I’ll call Entitled Mom (EM), eventually tapped me on the shoulder.
“We’re trying to avoid screen time for our son during this trip,” she said with a tight smile. “Could you please put the iPad away? It’s really upsetting him.”
I was taken aback. “I’m sorry, but Ella’s calm and enjoying her show. I’d rather not disrupt her.”
EM’s smile vanished. “Wow, so you’d rather ruin our family trip than take a break from your kid’s precious screen?” she muttered, loud enough for nearby passengers to hear. “Some parents just can’t say no these days. No wonder kids are so spoiled.”
I chose to ignore her, but the tension didn’t end there. Halfway through the flight, her son threw a full-blown tantrum. Then, EM “accidentally” knocked over Ella’s tray, sending the iPad crashing to the floor.
“Oops, so clumsy of me!” she said, smirking. Ella burst into tears, and I was furious. But with EM playing innocent, there wasn’t much I could do. I took a deep breath, focused on calming Ella down, and hoped karma would catch up with EM.
And it did. Not long after the “accident,” things took an unexpected turn.
