Traveling when you’re sick can be a real pain, but does that give you the right to be mean to anyone and everyone around you?

In today’s story, a teen boy wonders if he overreacted to kids playing at the airport.

Let’s see how the drama escalates…

AITA for yelling at a couple because of their kids at the airport

Last year I 16M went backpacking across Europe with my mom 44 for three weeks.

We hit a few countries and it was a lot of fun but towards the end of our trip we got sick.

His mom needed to see a doctor.

I barely had a rash but my mom was hit bad with headaches fever nausea and patches of puffy red rashes/inflammation on her neck.

We were a day from our return flight and our medical options in Rome weren’t great so we decided she’d see a doctor first thing when we got back.

Things got worse…

She was extremely exhausted after such a long trip and worsening so by the time we got off our sixteen hour flight back to Cali she was practically a zombie.

We were waiting in the line at customs for American citizens and right behind us was a couple with two kids.

It was a long line so we were stuck with them for at least twenty minutes and their kids were going wild. The two little boys looked to be around four and seven.

UH OH…

They were screaming and running in and out of the line bumping into people and stepping over feet.

The parents were unbothered and speaking casually with each other in Italian.

This was really upsetting my mom as they ran into us the most and the screaming only exacerbated her headache.

He couldn’t stay quiet!

Now I’m not very confrontational unlike my mother I would rather bite my tongue but seeing as she couldn’t say much it really bothered me.

I kept telling myself I’d say something after one more time and one more time and eventually I boiled over, I whipped around looked them dead in the eyes and said “you speak English right?!” “Keep your kids in line!” I didn’t yell but I was loud and firm.

Was he a Karen?

The mom just looked shocked, picked up her kids and that was the end of it.

My mom tried to say stop right beforehand but didn’t say much after.

It wasn’t until I told this story to my coworkers back at work that my boss said I sounded like a Karen and overreacted.

I think I held it together remarkably well but what do you think?

Mom was very sick!

For a little more context we later found out my mom had a staph infection and almost went septic, plus she has multiple preexisting conditions like cluster headaches, hyperthyroidism (her thyroid was removed) and sleep apnea.

Added (I forgot) brain lesions from micro strokes and heart problems.

GEEZ! That sounds pretty rough!

Those kids were probably just enjoying their time at the airport, but when you’re sick, it’s hard to handle extra noise and stress.

Let’s find out what folks on Reddit think about this one.

This user doesn’t believe this guy for not having good medical options in Italy!

This user thinks this kid is absurd for acting the way he did.

That’s right! This user is mad this guy and his mother got on a flight with such an illness.

Exactly! This user is shocked that these guys were allowed on the flight in that condition.

This user blames these guys for spreading such diseases!

They should’ve gone to the hospital before flying home.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.