Extract

Imagine you are flying on an airplane from Boston to San Francisco. Your focus is on your computer because you have a pending work deadline. As a frequent flier you are very accustomed to working on an airplane, typically able to block out distractions, disconnect, and get work done. You always choose the window because it feels more private. Sitting next to you is a young couple with a newborn baby, about six months old. The young mother is in the middle seat and the father on the aisle. Holding the baby is a shared responsibility and you've seen the baby being passed back and forth several times during the first two hours of the flight and you think how lucky you are that the baby has been quiet and calmly playful most of the time. But soon the inevitable happens. The baby begins to cry. The cry turns into a wail and the pitch is deafening. You see tears streaming down the face of the child, his tiny face and head red from his intense crying. You watch as the parents try to pacify the baby. Holding and rocking don't seem to work. A bottle forced into the child's tiny mouth fails miserably. The crying continues, sometimes fading a bit but only to escalate again. At first you just feel aggravated because the flight is long and you have work to do.