Unruly Child Keeps Spitting in Woman's Face on Plane – Her Response Sparks Heated Debates

A nurse and her husband boarded a routine flight from Atlanta to Denver, expecting a quiet journey. Instead, they found themselves in the middle of a shocking mid-air incident that spiraled into a viral sensation, igniting fierce debates and leaving fellow passengers stunned.

In an incident that has ignited a fierce debate across social media, a nurse-turned-TikTok content creator, Shayla Monnier, a woman in her 40s from Idaho, California, found herself and her husband, Andrew, at the center of an airborne altercation involving a young child.

The couple was seated on a flight from Atlanta to Denver when the troubling event unfolded, leaving passengers and viewers divided on the appropriate course of action.

Monnier took to TikTok on June 17, 2024, to recount the startling episode. In the first video, she described how, with about an hour left on the flight, a child seated in front of them began to misbehave in an extreme manner.

"So today on my flight from Atlanta to Denver, there was about an hour left in the flight, and the kid in the seat in front of me turned around and went like that," Monnier demonstrated, sticking her tongue out as if to blow a raspberry. The child's spit landed on her face and her husband's arm.

Initially, the child's parents attempted to intervene. However, their efforts were unsuccessful. "She again fought against them, turned around on the seat, and spit on us again," Monnier recounted about the little girl whom she guessed was between three and five years old.

Despite her shock, Monnier tried to block the child's spit with her hand, but the child persisted, spitting for a third time. The parents' inability to control their child, who was seated between them in the middle seat, left Monnier and her husband astounded and frustrated.

Monnier expressed disbelief at the parents' lack of control over the child, noting how they struggled to manage her behavior. Despite their attempts to stop the spitting, the child continued, and Monnier and Andrew were left to fend off the spit with their hands.

"I was kind of shocked and the parents reacted and told her not to and then it just became a thing. And she again fought against them, turned around on the seat, and spit on us again. This time I put my hand up just to block the spit for me and her parents kind of like, grabbed her and had her sit down. But she fought," explained Monnier.

She remarked on the surprising ineffectiveness of two adults in handling a single child, especially when both parents were wearing masks but their daughter was not.

"Okay, another thing that I probably could have mentioned just for fun is that both of her parents were wearing a mask. She obviously was not, and they clearly had no control. Two adults could not control a four-year-old child," Monnier stated incredulously.

The response to Monnier's first video was mixed. Some viewers suggested gentle parenting techniques, such as giving the child crayons or toys, while others supported Monnier's frustration.

"The number of people who said they wouldn't do anything, or it's just a child, or I would give her crayons or a toy or something like that. I guess you don't understand how out of control she was," Monnier responded in a follow-up video posted on June 18, 2024.

In this second video, Monnier elaborated on the severity of the situation, emphasizing the child's uncontrollable behavior.

"There was no talking to her. She was fighting to get over the seat and as soon as she got over the seat, she was spitting. I'm not negotiating with a child that is spitting in my face," she declared.

Monnier, who is a mom and grandma, expressed disbelief that anyone would tolerate such behavior without taking firm action. "Because at first, I was like, 'Is everybody seriously gentle parenting these days because I'm not about it. Not if you're spitting in my face.' I have children; my children would never have done that," she said.

Monnier considered the possibility that the child might have had special needs, which could explain the behavior. She acknowledged that sometimes a child's needs are not immediately apparent and suggested that parents in such situations should have a clear plan.

Options might include sitting in the last row to minimize interactions with other passengers, using a car seat to restrain the child, or consulting a doctor about medication to help the child sleep during flights. Regardless of the situation, she emphasized that allowing a child to spit on others is never acceptable.

"I don't know what that is, but whatever it is, it's not the answer. [The answer] is never that they are just allowed to spit in somebody else's face," Monnier added.

The incident escalated when Andrew confronted the parents after the child's third spitting attempt. Monnier recounted, "After the third time, my husband very sternly said to the parents, 'If you don't get your kid under control, I'll do it for you. Why don't you put a mask on her? You guys are both wearing masks. Why doesn't she have a mask?'"

The mother responded defensively, suggesting that the couple did not understand the challenges of parenting. Andrew retorted, "We have five children and six grandchildren and I promise you: not one of them would do something like that."

The commotion attracted the attention of a flight attendant, who intervened promptly. She addressed the parents and instructed them to put a mask on the child.

"The flight attendant heard the commotion and came over immediately and was like, 'Oh, absolutely not.' So she went and got [the kid] a mask and said, 'You can't do that. You need to put a mask on. You're gonna need to put a mask on her,'" recalled Monnier. The flight attendant's decisive action seemed to pacify the situation temporarily.

Despite the intervention, Monnier and Andrew were left feeling exasperated by the ordeal. The flight attendant later returned with flight credits (miles) for them and the passenger seated in the window seat, acknowledging the inconvenience they had suffered.

Reflecting on the incident, Monnier shared that the child had slept through most of the flight and only began acting out after waking up. She noted that when they first boarded the plane, the father was already struggling to negotiate with the child, using repeated endearments to try and manage her behavior.

"When I first got onto the plane, she was awake, and I heard the dad trying to negotiate with her. I immediately was like, 'Oh boy, he has no control over this child.' And then she went to sleep and she slept the whole flight until the hour. As soon as she woke up, she started [spitting]. So it wasn't like she was just bored on the plane," explained Monnier.

Monnier also considered whether the parents might have medicated the child:

"Immediately following her whole spitting episodes, she fell back to sleep. So I wonder if maybe the parents did medicate her. I just know that she was completely out of control and spitting in people's faces and on their bodies [which] is absolutely not okay. I don't care what age you are or what you have going on, that's never an answer. I'm not gonna just sit there and let somebody spit in my face."

Monnier's videos have since gone viral, amassing thousands of comments and views. The reactions reveal a divided audience, with some applauding Monnier and her husband for standing up for themselves, while others criticize their approach. Some said they would have acted harsher had they been in Monnier's place.

"👍🏽I'm on your side…good for your husband!" wrote one commenter. "100% agree with you!!! By the way……. There was no negotiating when we were kids," said another. "100% agree with how you and your husband responded! 💯" added a different user.

"Tough situation, but your husband threatening the child or parents isn't the answer," penned an angry user. "So your husband threatened a child. Bodily. Regardless of how bad the behavior was, essentially threatening to smack a kid is GROSS," criticized another user.

However, not everyone agreed with how Monnier's husband handled the situation."Idda probably spit at her parents [sic]!" chimed in one person. "Accidentally spilled my drink over the seat," another remarked. "It would have been cool if you spit in her face 🤪🤪," joked one commenter. "I would've scolded her... 'sit down!😖'" opined another.

Monnier also admitted that she and her husband feared potential repercussions from the airline, including the possibility of being placed on a no-fly list due to the confrontation.

The heated debate that Monnier's videos have sparked reflects a broader conversation about appropriate responses to disruptive behavior in public spaces, especially when it involves children.

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Entitled Mom Demands That I Obey Her Child's Wishes – Flight Attendant Teaches Them a Proper Lesson

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His mom sat in the aisle seat, acting as if the plane was her living room. She had her hair sprayed stiff and gave me a sharp look as she sorted through her many handbags.

We didn't talk much at first. I tried to focus on my book, but the sound from the boy's show kept distracting me. It was full of loud battle scenes and laughter. I asked him nicely to turn it down.

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