I don’t know quite what to think about a video that has gone viral of a Singapore Airlines flight attendant spoon-feeding a five year old boy as he watches his iPad. As Boy Watches iPad, Singapore Airlines Flight Attendant...
I don’t know quite what to think about a video that has gone viral of a Singapore Airlines flight attendant spoon-feeding a five year old boy as he watches his iPad.
As Boy Watches iPad, Singapore Airlines Flight Attendant Feeds Him Dinner
The video was posted by the boy’s father, proud as he could be that he had secured Singapore Airlines business class from Singapore to Tokyo for his family. He was amazed when he looked back and saw that his five-year old son was being spoon-fed his dinner by a Singapore Airlines cabin crew members, historically referred to as a Singapore Girl.
The video is quite cute, but the controversy, for me at least, is that the little guy is not even paying attention to this kind soul who is feeding him. Instead, he’s just transfixed on his iPad.
First, I’m surprised the kid let her feed him. My kids are fiercely independent when it comes to eating. Since age two my daughter has insisted on eating herself and does a remarkably good job, now at age three, eating with a fork and spoon (she has not mastered the knife yet). The same was true for my son, who is now seven and certainly was not being spoon-fed at age five.
Should the flight attendant have fed him? Well, I think it’s a beautiful gesture and one of the things that makes Singapore Airlines unique among its peers. I’ve got four Singapore Airlines premium cabin segments to share with you in an upcoming trip report and the service on Singapore is simply subliminal…it is one of my favorite ways to fly.
I’m not in the mood to attack today, so I will stop far short of condemning these parents…but I am curious your thoughts on this matter. We don’t have a TV in my house, but we do have an iPad that I will occasionally use to help the kids cultivate their German. However, we have a screen-free policy at the table. No cell phones or other electronic devices are allowed while we eat together.
On the other hand, I published my own family trip report earlier this year and you can bet that my son and daughter were glued to the monitor during their dinner. That’s just what you do on an airplane.
But my kids were not being fed…they were feeding themselves, which is a huge difference. There’s just something about the kid essentially ignoring the flight attendant while she feeds him that rubs me the wrong way.
CONCLUSION
A video shows a five-year-old being fed dinner by a Singapore Airlines flight attendant. Is being spoon-fed at that age while glued to an iPad really something for a parent to boast about? Or is it just another sign of how great Singapore Airlines is? Or perhaps both?
top image: @michaelrutherfordonline / Instagram