Raising children is no easy task, as any parent will know. Everyone has their own parenting style, and it’s common each person’s style will evolve as their children get older. Of course, there will most likely be some situations that are more challenging than others, but that’s when parents can choose how to best handle those scenarios.

Children are known to be unpredictable at times, so figuring out the best way to look after them according to each unique situation is important for parents. Nowadays, there are many tips and tricks to help new parents and seasoned parents along the way. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be moments that divide opinion on how is best to proceed.

Professional baseball player Anthony Bass, who is a pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, learned this when he tweeted about an incident that occurred when his family took a United Airlines flight in April 2023. Alongside a photo of his two adorable daughters entertaining themselves in their plane seats, Bass wrote:

“The flight attendant @united just made my 22 week pregnant wife traveling with a 5 year old and 2 year old get on her hands and knees to pick up the popcorn mess by my youngest daughter. Are you kidding me?!?!”

What some might have seen as a father looking out for his family, others saw as extreme entitlement. The viral tweet amassed more than 17,000 replies as users from all over weighed in with their thoughts, and unfortunately for him, many people did not see the situation the way he did.

For Illustration Purposes Only — istockphoto.com/ampueroleonardo

One Twitter user wrote:

“Genuinely curious who should clean up the mess your 2 year old made? As a parent of three kids I am the one responsible for them.”

Meanwhile, another said:

“UMMMM 22 weeks? Get over yourself. Pregnant women lift weights, run corporations, work in fields and take care of a lot of things. That small mess shouldn’t be an issue. Take like 2 mins. Unless of course we’re raising our kids to be entitled and we expect everyone to wait on us.”

Users spoke of how entitled Bass‘ comment was, while others questioned why he couldn’t pick up after his daughters instead of his wife.

Today decided to consult an expert to get to the bottom of the situation. Etiquette expert and former flight attendant, Jacqueline Whitmore told the outlet that an airline asking a passenger to get down on their hands and knees to clean up was unprofessional.

“It’s the flight attendant’s job to come around occasionally to pick up trash and other debris. Anything that falls on the floor generally stays there until the plane has landed and the clean-up crew comes on board,” Whitmore said.

She added, “it is not the passenger’s responsibility to clean up every little thing that falls on the floor.” Whitmore said that since the airline provided the popcorn to the passengers, they should not have asked the family to clean it up.

However, she also had choice words for passengers when flying:

“I recommend that people pack their manners and offer to clean up after themselves the best they can whenever possible. … This is both helpful and polite.”

United said they were looking into the incident further, but one Twitter user warned the airline they’ve “got a ton of people watching to see if (they’ll) do the right thing, or reward the wrong behavior of a rich, entitled white guy.”