Kindness of strangers

Every time I travel by myself with two children I am trusting that there will be a helping hand when I really need it. And so far, it always has been, even if sometimes it is the pilot himself helping me carry Emerson's carseat to our seats. (That was on Southwest. I didn't realize he was the pilot until after I had asked him for help. He was very nice about it.)

Of course, I do try to minimize the amount of help that I need, which is why when I arrived at the Pittsburgh airport for our flight home and discovered that the Ergo baby carrier, a central part of what makes flying alone with two children possible, was not in the car, I felt dismayed (read = total freak out curbside).

It turns out that the more help you need, the more help those kind strangers will provide. And a little luck doesn't hurt, too. The plane had open seats and the guy checking us in at the curb not only let us take Ethan's carseat on the plane (without paying for an additional seat) but he personally carried Ethan from the baggage check desk onto the plane and into a seat. He was my total hero for the day until he mentioned how much he loved Rick Santorum but I choose to forget that part and just remember how nice he was. You will not be surprised to hear that he has five children of his own, with a sixth on the way.*

So there I was, settled into a middle seat with a child strapped into a car seat on either side of me. Not bad, really. Until a flight attendant came up and informed me that car seats are not allowed in the row behind the exit row.

We needed to move. 

This is the part of the story where all the kind strangers are off getting a coffee. 

This being Southwest, hundreds of people have boarded since I sat down and the only way to get three seats together is to go the the very back of the plane. I can't carry two car seats and my bags all by myself so I ask the flight attendant for help or to at least block the boarding traffic for a moment so I can get the three of us moved. That doesn't really happen and I am frantically trying not to leave any child alone for too long while running back and forth down the aisle carrying heavy, awkward carseats. By the time I go back to get my bags there are already people sitting in the seats shoving my stuff to the side with their feet like trash.

I may have lost it again, just for a moment.

And then it was all fine once we got settled back in. About halfway through the flight a different flight attendant from the one I yelled at came to check on me and offered me wine.

Faith in humanity: restored. 


*He actually announced the latest pregnancy to the gate agents as we arrived at the gate and they congratulated him, then one of them turned to me and said in a hushed conspiratorial whisper "His wife's not counting right!"