There are wonderful people in the world; we just meet them so seldom.
I once flew into the Salt Lake airport with some LDS missionaries returning from their two years of service. An airport employee (janitor I think) approached one of them and asked, "You're just getting back from a mission?"
"Yes."
"Your family hasn't seen you in two years?"
"Yes."
"Are they waiting for you in the lobby?"
"They said they would be."
"Would you like to surprise them?"
The employee then proceeded to show the missionary a hallway through a door marked "Employees Only."
Later, in the lobby, I quickly identified the young man's relations: a huge group with signs reading "Welcome Home Elder ______!" (they matched his name-tag). They were anxiously watching the passengers arriving from his flight.
I stuck around to see what happened. When the family had waited long enough to seem a bit confused by his absence, I saw the missionary emerge from another "Employees Only" door—behind his family. He was able to get right in among them before shouting, "How's everybody doing?"
Let's hear it for offering quirky services to strangers.
I once flew into the Salt Lake airport with some LDS missionaries returning from their two years of service. An airport employee (janitor I think) approached one of them and asked, "You're just getting back from a mission?"
"Yes."
"Your family hasn't seen you in two years?"
"Yes."
"Are they waiting for you in the lobby?"
"They said they would be."
"Would you like to surprise them?"
The employee then proceeded to show the missionary a hallway through a door marked "Employees Only."
Later, in the lobby, I quickly identified the young man's relations: a huge group with signs reading "Welcome Home Elder ______!" (they matched his name-tag). They were anxiously watching the passengers arriving from his flight.
I stuck around to see what happened. When the family had waited long enough to seem a bit confused by his absence, I saw the missionary emerge from another "Employees Only" door—behind his family. He was able to get right in among them before shouting, "How's everybody doing?"
Let's hear it for offering quirky services to strangers.
