Q. My daughters and I were recently taking our seats on an aeroplane. From behind us came the recorded refrain ‘If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands’. Several further verses ensued. A toddler was watching something on his dad’s phone: he was too young for earphones. I turned and asked politely for the volume to be reduced or turned off. The dad replied, ‘Well, if you’d rather hear him screaming.’ I simply asked again that the volume be turned down, and it stopped shortly afterwards. No screaming ensued. But might there have been a better rejoinder to the father’s annoying response?
— A.C., London
A. Assuming a mask of sympathy you might have replied, ‘Oh poor you. How did that happen?’ Father: ‘How did what happen?’ You (still wearing sympathetic expression, which is key): ‘That your toddler got the upper hand?’ In this way you would have given him food for thought for the remainder of the flight.
Q.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in