A little girl kept banging on the back of my seat throughout the entire flight, while her mother just stared at her phone, even when I asked her to calm the child down. But soon my patience ran out, and I came up with a way to put both the cheeky mother and her daughter in their place.

A little girl kept banging on the back of my seat throughout the entire flight, while her mother just stared at her phone, even when I asked her to calm the child down. But soon my patience ran out, and I came up with a way to put both the cheeky mother and her daughter in their place.

The international flight was supposed to last almost six hours.

When I boarded the plane, I was in a great mood. I had specially chosen a window seat, I had a book with me, I had downloaded several movies, and I expected to have a peaceful flight.

All around me were ordinary passengers. Nothing suggested any problems.

Behind me sat a young woman with a little girl of about seven or eight. At first, I even thought I was lucky. The girl seemed calm and quiet.

The first hour of the flight passed without any problems.

The girl was watching cartoons on the tablet, the mother was looking at something on her phone, and I was reading my book and admiring the clouds through the window.

But then the situation began to change little by little.

First, the girl turned the cartoons up almost to maximum volume. Loud songs, character screams, and loud noises could be heard from her tablet. Several passengers started turning around, but the mother paid no attention.

Then the girl got tired of watching the screen.

She pulled out a bag of snacks and started eating so loudly that it could be heard several rows away. She was also talking to herself and yelling things at her mother.

I tried not to pay attention.

After all, children are different and the flight was long.

But the worst was yet to come.

At some point I felt a slight bump on the back of my seat.

At first I thought it was a coincidence. Minutes later, the blow was repeated. Then another one.

And then the girl started hitting my seat constantly.

Boom.

A few seconds later, again.

Boom.

Then even harder. Each blow made the seat visibly shake.

After the first blow I was surprised. After the third I started to get irritated. After the fifth I understood that it was impossible to keep enduring it.

I turned around and said as calmly as possible:

—Please explain to your daughter that she is bothering the other passengers.

The woman didn’t even look up from her phone immediately.

She looked at me as if I had distracted her from something very important.

“She’s just a child,” he replied. “Hold on a little longer. She’s just playing.”

—But he’s constantly hitting my seat.

—It’s nothing serious. He’ll get tired and stop soon.

—It’s preventing me from resting.

—We’re only flying for a few hours. Don’t make a big deal out of this.

After those words, the woman went back to focusing on her phone.

He didn’t even look at his daughter.

He didn’t say anything to her. He didn’t ask her to stop.

And the girl, noticing the conversation, just smiled and a few seconds later kicked the seat again. Then again. And again.

At that moment I understood that the problem wasn’t the girl.

The problem was the mother.

The girl was simply doing what she was allowed to do.

I sat there in silence for a few minutes, wondering what to do. I didn’t want to make a scene. Nor did I want to argue on the plane. But I wasn’t going to let it go either.

And then I had an idea to put the shameless mother and the girl in their place. I’ll tell you exactly what I did in the first comment, and tell me what you think.

I called the flight attendant.

When the girl approached, I calmly explained the situation to her.

No shouting.

Without emotions.

I simply said that I hadn’t been able to sit down peacefully for over an hour because of the constant banging on the seat.

The flight attendant listened to me attentively and went to speak to the woman.

At first the mother tried to dismiss the complaints just as she had ignored me.

He repeated:

—She’s a girl.

But the flight attendant was much firmer.

He explained that passengers must respect the rules of conduct on board and not disturb others.

After that, the girl calmed down for about five minutes.

But then it all started again.

Only now the blows were even stronger.

As if he did it on purpose.

The flight attendant noticed it herself. She approached again, observed what was happening for a while, and then proposed a solution.

There were some free seats in another row of the plane.

And ten minutes later they didn’t transfer me. They transferred the mother and her daughter.

Furthermore, at the back of the cabin, where other families with children were already seated.

When the woman heard the decision, her face changed immediately. She began to protest. She said it was uncomfortable.

That he had chosen those seats on purpose.

That her daughter wasn’t bothering anyone.

But the flight attendant calmly replied:

—If the girl cannot respect the rules, then we must relocate her where she will not bother the other passengers.

There was no point in continuing to argue.

Within minutes they gathered their belongings and went to the other end of the plane.

Finally, silence reigned in the cabin.

I reopened my book and, for the first time in several hours, I was able to relax peacefully.

And a little later, an older man in the next seat leaned towards me and said in a low voice:

—Thank you for not staying silent. It wasn’t just you who were bothered.

I smiled and understood one simple thing.

Sometimes people think that others are obligated to tolerate their bad behavior.

But all it takes is for someone to calmly and respectfully set boundaries for the situation to change quickly.