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On my first flight yesterday, from SFO to Houston, I sat behind a woman who was talking very loudly to her seat-mate (a man) about the important benefits of breastfeeding (she was a nursing graduate student), including as an adult the ability to better form stable emotional attachments (I'm not making this up). And that women who didn't breastfeed really just think it is easier to use formula ("and they're so wrong! I mean, you have to mix the formula and clean the bottles, instead of simply attaching the baby").
I was very emotionally fragile, because I was flying back East to visit my terminally ill sister-in-law. Which is an explanation, but not an excuse, for what I did next. In an an act of unacceptable rudeness, I leaned forward and asked, in tones as loud as the ones she was using, "Excuse me miss, but do you actually have any children?" To which the answer was no, although she had raised two, and that I was being extremely rude by intruding into her conversation (she was right on that one). The beneficial side effect was that she lowered her voice quite a bit after that.
I then spent three hours crying. Not sobbing, merely quietly leaking tears. I went to get some water because I was getting dehydrated (from all the crying, as well as the dry airplane air) and the attendant asked what was wrong. I told her, and we talked for a while, and I drank several glasses of water, and felt better.
The next flight was no better. The couple across and one row back looked like they were going to be trouble from the start when she threw a hissy fit about having to gate check her bag. Later on in the flight he insisted on playing music without headphones so his girlfriend could listen to it -- I asked him to use headphones, he said "no, don't have any" -- and the attendant wouldn't make him turn it off (in spite of the fact it clearly says in the regulations on portable electronics that all music players must be used with headphones). Glares in his direction would be met with piercing shrieks (I am not making this up, either). They weren't horribly loud but they were painful. The woman in front of me at one point said "God, I can't wait for this flight to be over," and likewise got shrieked at. Did I mention they swore loudly enough for people three rows around them to hear? I'm not a prude, I swear myself, but not loudly in public. They were probably the two rudest people I've come across in a long time.
Yesterday was not fun.
I was very emotionally fragile, because I was flying back East to visit my terminally ill sister-in-law. Which is an explanation, but not an excuse, for what I did next. In an an act of unacceptable rudeness, I leaned forward and asked, in tones as loud as the ones she was using, "Excuse me miss, but do you actually have any children?" To which the answer was no, although she had raised two, and that I was being extremely rude by intruding into her conversation (she was right on that one). The beneficial side effect was that she lowered her voice quite a bit after that.
I then spent three hours crying. Not sobbing, merely quietly leaking tears. I went to get some water because I was getting dehydrated (from all the crying, as well as the dry airplane air) and the attendant asked what was wrong. I told her, and we talked for a while, and I drank several glasses of water, and felt better.
The next flight was no better. The couple across and one row back looked like they were going to be trouble from the start when she threw a hissy fit about having to gate check her bag. Later on in the flight he insisted on playing music without headphones so his girlfriend could listen to it -- I asked him to use headphones, he said "no, don't have any" -- and the attendant wouldn't make him turn it off (in spite of the fact it clearly says in the regulations on portable electronics that all music players must be used with headphones). Glares in his direction would be met with piercing shrieks (I am not making this up, either). They weren't horribly loud but they were painful. The woman in front of me at one point said "God, I can't wait for this flight to be over," and likewise got shrieked at. Did I mention they swore loudly enough for people three rows around them to hear? I'm not a prude, I swear myself, but not loudly in public. They were probably the two rudest people I've come across in a long time.
Yesterday was not fun.
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As for your response to the loud militant pro-breastfeeding woman... sure, it was a bit rude, but frankly I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Having loud discussions of controversial topics in small public spaces is intensely rude. Miss Manners would disapprove of your response, certainly, but her disapproval wouldn't go beyond one delicately raised eyebrow -- not even to the shocked gaze level.