They spent the next hour together just holding each other and talking.  Finally they called his flight and they went out.  Sue and her husband were having a parting kiss.  Her husband was holding a small boy, obviously their son.  Randy and Sue nodded to each other and boarded the plane.  Diane managed to bat back the tears until he was on the plane.  She sat on a seat there till the plane taxied out then went to the window till it was out of sight.  She returned to the seat for a few minutes then got up slowly and headed down the steps.  She headed to the door, saw the sky cap, opened her purse, pulled out a bill and walked over to him, “Thanks is not enough, but thanks.”  She handed him the bill. 

“Oh no, Mam, that is way too much, your husband already gave me too much.”

“You have no idea how much this last hour meant to us and you made it happen. This isn’t any where near to enough but it is the best I can do now.”

He shook his head and accepted the bill, “OK, Mam, thank you but it is not necessary.”

“What you did for us wasn’t necessary either but you did it.  Thanks, and God bless you.”

He smiled and nodded as she walked away.  She was in the car before he looked at the bills in his hand.  He thought he one Randy gave him was a $20.  It was actually two crisp 20’s. That would have been more than he could have expected. He opened his hand, there was a fifty, and as he turned it over he realized it was backed by another $10.  He shook his head.  Yesterday his wife had told him that they needed about a hundred extra dollars.  He had given one couple a place behind the desk where they could be alone, they gave him $20.  He found a place in a closed shop for the young couple with the little boy.  They had given him $30.  He counted it up.  He had never had such a good day.  And these people only wanted one thing, to have some time to spend with their families while they waited.  They were willing to spend a lot of money to have him handle their bags so they would have it.  He wasn’t sure what this was all about, he really didn’t understand this programming but maybe he would get a chance to ask one of these people some time.  There were over thirty five of them today already.  Maybe he should worry about this if the government was getting this concerned.  And these people who obviously knew what was happening were acting like they didn’t expect to be home for some time.

My site Ralph Brandt

First, Previous and Next chapters Of Y2K

Y2k Chapter One Introduction

Y2k Chapter 15 The Personal Cost

Y2k Chapter 17 The Plan Does Not Go Well