Viral Post: A Mom's Mission to Help a Stranger

Kasela Bernard is a professional photographer and mother of young children. She found herself on a flight, without her kids, sitting not far from a mother traveling with three toddlers.

She later shared what happened on the flight in a Facebook post that went viral, garnering over a hundred thousand shares and thousands of comments.

"We were waiting for takeoff," she recounted in her post, "when suddenly a baby started to cry. I'm totally used to crying and whining, so I ignored it. Everyone around me began to grumble and murmur. Then...I hear two babies crying. This lady's toddler was freaking out because of his seatbelt."

No problem...I have mom superpowers and I ignore it...but here are the things I can't ignore:

I hear a woman complaining to this mom (who is alone with two crying kids) that her child needs to stop kicking the seat. Then I hear the mom say: "She's three, I can't believe you did that," because the woman reached behind the seat and grabbed the child's leg forcefully."

While all this is happening, the flight attendant just stands there listening, doing nothing.

The older man next to me comments something like: "It's pretty clear her parenting isn't working," and I reply: "She's probably afraid to do anything—you're not allowed to do anything these days," and he falls silent.

Back to the lady at the back of the plane...it's a full flight and I sat there for 15 minutes waiting for someone sitting closer to her to offer help because I'm surrounded by caring adults, right? (Wrong)

A toddler screaming, a baby crying, and an older kid behaving well. One woman had her hands over her ears and made ugly faces at the mom...seriously.

So, being a decent person, I couldn't let this mom drown there. I got out of my seat, walked to the back of the plane, and asked if she needed help.

She immediately handed me her baby. So, you know, I took her baby and had to sit down for takeoff...the crying stopped (a miracle!), and there I am holding this sweet baby who just fell asleep.

My point? Be nice and considerate. If someone needs help, for Hashem's sake: help them. Complaining and grumbling won't do anything but make that person feel worse.

How can you ignore someone in distress? It just doesn't make sense to me. Please be generous. Please be thoughtful. Help one another...everything will get easier, and I promise you won't die from it."