Witney Carson of Dancing With the Stars claimed her kids weren't loud enough for shushing on a 13-hour flight, but some have doubts. The season 34 winner complained in an Instagram Story that the flight attendants told her two-year-old son Jet to keep it down repeatedly. The dancer asked fans to weigh in.
Opinions proved strongly divided based on the platform on which people commented.
How long can a two-year-old be quiet?
In her Instagram post on Sunday, Carson questioned whether Delta Air Lines flight attendants were right to keep shushing Jet over the course of the long trip. She was going back home from Australia in first class with her husband and two kids.
"Question for you guys, and be honest—is it appropriate to ask for a child to be quiet for the entire 13-hour flight?" she asked. "Jet was playing and giggling with me and we were asked to be quiet because a man up in front said he was trying to rest."
Carson said she asked the attendant if there were certain quiet hours on such a long flight. The Dancing With the Stars pro didn't say if she got an answer, but expressed that she felt it was unreasonable to expect a toddler not to giggle for that long.
"I don't expect my children to sit quietly for 13 hours," she wrote.
There probably isn't a two-year-old on Earth who could stay silent for that stretch without sedation. However, experienced flyers questioned Carson's version of the story.
"That's what headphones are for!"
According to Us Weekly, Carson's followers took her side. When the publication posted the story to its own Instagram account, commenters again affirmed her feelings on the matter, saying that adult flyers should prepare for the possibility of young children on board.
"Wow, I can't believe the flight attendant got involved!!" said @lisachin0427. "Horrible! That's what headphones are for!"
"No kids should not be quiet or still for 13 hours," wrote @staceyvermeulen_. "That’s why we ADULT passengers should always have headphones & earplugs."
The support was overwhelming enough that Carson acknowledged it in a follow-up Story.
"Seems I’ve reached the right side of Instagram," she declared with a thumbs up. "I feel very validated. Thanks for letting me vent."
However, those on Reddit's r/flightattendants wondered if Carson was telling the whole truth. In fact, they'd put money on her stretching it.
"'Playing and giggling with me' could encompass a LOT," u/BowensCourt pointed out. "I'd bet money this lady's kids were being extremely loud if they were actually asked to be quiet."
"I am willing to bet that her description of 'playing quietly and giggling' was actually screaming and screeching at the top of his lungs because he was told he has to stay seated and can’t treat the airplane like his personal playroom," said u/Food-Wine.
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