First Class+Kids=Finlandia

Ok, let me explain to you the most horrible situation that can ever happen during a cross country flight. Well, at least that was how it felt. We were flying US Airways to San Francisco. A cross country flight connecting through Charlotte. (great airport by the way) Via phone there were no first class seats available but when we checked in they were available, so we upgraded to first class. Long flight, long day, so this was well worth the money. The hour and six minute flight to Charlotte was great. First class was half full, good service, etc. Then came the flight to San Francisco. We boarded the plane and the first thing that we saw was that the row in front of us, both directly and across the aisle had 2 adults (parents), 2 BABIES 14 months old and a 3 year old. Wonderful, just f**king wonderful. This was originally going to be a 6 hour flight, which ended up being a 7 hour flight due to heavy traffic with weather. We tried headphones with both music and watching a movie. (with the volume up as much as our ears could handle) This could not drown out these kids. The were crying, screaming, fussing, throwing things, the parents were changes the stinky s**tty diapers right there in the seat, it was completely nerve racking. It actually drove me to have a cocktail for the FIRST TIME EVER in my flying history on the plane. The stewardess - oh excuse me - FLIGHT ATTENDANT, brought me not one but two bottles on Finlandia vodka, sympathizing with the situation. And the parents, oh my, if I heard "oh, it's ok" one more time I was going to SCREAM. Horrible parenting. Horrible. These parents needed to be... well I could say several things, non of which are appropriate, unless I was at an NRA convention... anyway all of this leads me to these questions:

1. Why are kids under a certain age even allowed to be in first class?
2. I wouldn't even THINK of sujecting other passengers who paid extra, a lot of extra money for comfort, to my screaming kids.
3. Was it wrong to sneak liquor into their "sippy cups" that they kept throwing on the floor into our row? Just kidding - calm down.

I could not even believe that this was happening. It was truly one of the worst flying experiences that I, we, have ever had.

Bottom line: Kids should NOT BE ALLOWED IN FIRST CLASS. Be aware, US Airways allows this. I would have rather been squished between Sheneequa and Bubba in the middle seat for 7 hours - IN COACH.

K.P.