On a long overnight flight from New York to London, I settled in with a stack of books, ready for a quiet trip. Next to me sat a teenage boy watching loud action shows on his tablet. Despite wearing headphones, the sound was blaring. I politely asked him to turn it down — twice. He smiled and said “sure,” but never did. His mom sat on the aisle, acting like she owned the row. She didn’t say a word about the noise — just flipped through her magazine like I didn’t exist. Later,
I opened the window shade to get some natural light for reading. Without a word, the teen slammed it shut. I opened it again — he shut it again. This silent tug-of-war continued until his mom finally snapped, “He’s trying to sleep! Just leave it down!” I calmly replied, “And I’m trying to read.” She huffed and jabbed the call button. When the flight attendant arrived,
