The Baby Lady's Hero

“An airline pilot at LAX.”

The Baby Lady’s Hero

There were masses people sitting and standing all around me at the gate for my upcoming flight out of LAX.  But there was only one who captured my attention.  She pushed a baby in a stroller up to the counter and began talking with the gate agents there.  I couldn’t hear every word that was exchanged but I got the gist of what she was saying.

She had come over from another terminal and airline because they couldn’t accommodate her even though she had a ticket.  The other airline told her they had made arrangements for her to use her existing ticket on this new airline.  I watched and listened as she explained her situation.  The answer given to her was something like, “This flight is quite full and we don’t know if we’ll have space for you.”

The would-be passenger suddenly had a fallen countenance, turned her stroller around and walked out of the loading area.  I said to myself, “Well, that’s that.  She won’t get on.”  I put my head back down and worked silently on my computer.

As I glanced up from the screen I noticed the lady and her baby come back to the gate area and walk up to speak to the gate agents again.  Nothing had changed in the demeanor of the agents.  Once again the “Baby Lady” turned to walk away.  This time I could see her fighting back tears.

She was exhausted and becoming desperate.  I could tell because her emotions began to stream out of her eyes and she sat across from me, pulled out her phone and began to talk to someone.  She was in full tears as she began to talk.  It pulled the strings of my heart!  I didn’t know what to do to help her.

A few minutes later she was back at the boarding desk speaking with the gate agents.  Her tears flowed freely.  She stood pleading for help.

As she pled, as luck would have it, the pilots for our flight walked up.  Our flight had been delayed so they were hanging around, hovering for any information that could become available.  This unusual presence is the only reason one of the pilots caught wind of what the Baby Lady’s situation was.

She had once again finished an unsuccessful talk with the gate agents, so the pilot pulled her aside and asked her what was wrong.  She sobbed her story to him and he put his arm around her and walked her back to the desk.

“I think we can take care of her, don’t you think?” He boldly proclaimed to the agents there.

They looked up at him in surprise and their fingers began to fly over their keyboards.  A look of panic began to become a shadow hanging over their faces.  The pilot then looked at them very seriously as he spoke to the Baby Lady.

“I’ve got to get on the plane now, but I hope to see you on my plane!”

Boarding was now beginning.  The gate agents summoned the Baby Lady and gave her priority boarding!  My heart was satisfied and filled with wonder.

In a few minutes I found my own seat on the jet.  It was well behind the Baby Lady, but I could see her.  I watched as her pilot hero walked from his cockpit back to her seat and he gave her a cheery welcome aboard.  His smile lighted the whole cabin!

I sat back in my seat and cherished the moment.  I’ve flown millions of miles, seen thousands of pilots, been through hundreds of airports, fled countries deep in the throws of war three times, but through it all, I’ve only had the pleasure of flying under the care of a real hero, the Baby Lady’s Hero, once!