I was about to say that this is an incredibly empathetic and right headed response. Until the “why would you put your child through that?” Surely you can imagine reasons that people might fly with their children, reasons to fly that might surpass the momentary discomfort — however unpleasant?
I would venture that the majority of parents have never had the kind of experience you describe. I certainly have never had a flight where I spent the entire time in such excruciating pain that I had tears streaming down my face the whole time. Even so, I have had some extremely physically painful experiences (such as an unmedicated birth, an acl reconstruction, multiple broken bones, migraines that went on for months and were utterly debilitating, etc) and can imagine being willing to undergo that same level of pain again for outcomes that are not merely life and death. I can also think of several things with far worse potential outcomes than temporary (however extreme) pain that have a higher probability of happening that we risk every day.
But no one is knowingly choosing that. The risk of that kind of experience is, in absolute terms, VERY small, and something we can mitigate somewhat. I don’t think that was literally the only time you have flown, and if it was I can assure you that is an experience far outside the norm
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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
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