She blared music, yelled at staff, and let her dog poop on the floor like the airport was her kingdom. Everyone was tired by the time we got to the gate, so I sat next to her with a smile and showed her the way.
JFK was full. Holdups, long lines, and grumpy tourists. Like always. The voice then came. It’s loud, sharp, and hard to skip.
“Yes, I did say I wouldn’t do that.” I’m not supposed to do that. It’s okay if she cries.
Everyone turned around. When she wasn’t FaceTiming, a woman in a red coat stood near the Hudson News store with her phone held straight out in front of her. Like a car alarm, her words cut through the noise.
It was right in the middle of the airport, behind her, and it looked like a little white ball. Under the bright airport lights, its diamond collar sparkled.
An older guy with a tan cap walked up and said, “Excuse me, miss.” “Your dog…” He pointed to where the mess was on the floor.
She snapped, “Some people are so damn rude!” and then went back to her call. “This guy is looking at me like I just killed someone. “Granny, mind your own business.”
People in the crowd let out gasps. A mom nearby said, “Oh my God,” and held her child’s eyes shut like it was a crime scene.
Someone else on the road spoke up. “Ma’am! Are you not going to clean that up?”
The woman walked straight ahead. Her hand went up in the air and she said, “They have people for that.”
It looked like people were trying to figure out what had just happened as they stood still.
After that, I saw her again at TSA. She pushed people in line and threw her bag down in front of them like she owned the place.
The agent told her, “Ma’am, you need to wait your turn.”
“I have PreCheck,” she yelled. “And my dog gets anxious.”
The agent looked across the room and said, “That’s not the PreCheck line.”
“Well, I’m going through anyway.”
Behind her, someone said, “Unreal.”
Then there was the shoe fight.
“I’m not taking them off,” she said.
“You have to,” the TSA worker told her.
“I get along with TSA. “Those are slides.”
“They’re boots, ma’am.”
“I’ll sue.”
She finally took them off, but the whole time she was mumbling something. Nothing made her dog bark, not even a baby in a stroller or a guy with a cane. No breaks.
She yelled again at the coffee stand. “I told you to say almond milk.” Are you hearing impaired?”
“I’m sorry,” the barista said. “We only have oat or soy right now.”
“I said almond!”
“We can give you your money back,” said another worker.
“Forget about it.” She yelled, “You people are impossible!” and stormed off, taking her drink. Her phone’s speakers played her music now; she still didn’t have headphones on. It looked like she didn’t mind that everyone could hear her music.
I made it to Gate 22 in time for my trip to Rome. Of course, she was back again.
FaceTime is still going. It’s still not headphones. Still letting her dog bark at anything that moved. One chair had her legs crossed, another had her bag on it, and the third had the dog lying out on it.
Someone across from her said, “This can’t be real.” A girl got up and moved to a different row of seats. “Is she really on our flight?” asked two older customers in a whisper. They seemed tense, like they hoped she was just passing through.
A baby started to cry when the dog barked at them. They took the child from there and didn’t say a word.
No one sat next to her. Not a single person spoke. Not me.
I went over and sat down next to her right away.
She looked at me sideways and her eyes got narrow, as if I were another problem. I smiled. “Long wait, huh?”
She didn’t answer. The dog growled at my shoe.
I said, “Cute little guy.”
She said in a low voice, “He doesn’t like strangers.”
“I get it,” I replied. “Airports bring out the worst in everyone.”
She picked up her call again. I sat back in my chair and looked around. We had people looking at us. Looking at her. Looking at me.
They looked worn out. Feeling hopeful. Not sure.
I didn’t say anything. I was sure of what I was going to do.
I sat there quietly, and the noise of the chaos hummed next to me. The woman was still yelling into her phone about a lost bracelet and how “they’ll just have to send a new one.”
I could feel her voice in my ears like a fork scraping against glass. A plastic straw bag that someone had dropped was now being chewed on by the dog. Not a leash. Don’t worry.
I looked over and saw a couple sitting by the window. The man had his cane across his lap, and his wife held a boarding pass in both hands, making it look like a tiny bird.
They heard the dog bark twice. Very loud, very sharp, and very quick. They jumped back. A woman said something in a whisper, and the man nodded. They slowly stood up, got their things, and walked away.
That was it. I let out a breath through my nose and almost smiled.
This woman made me think of a customer I used to help when I worked in customer service. She would throw backs on the bar and call out “Do your job” like it was a curse every time.
The kind of person who thought other people would clean up after them when they made a mess in their life. It was against the rules for me to do anything but blink while she insisted on talking to a boss I didn’t even like.
My mom said, “The only way to deal with a bully is to smile and move smarter than they do.” That was something I never forgot.
I was also tired. The week and month had been long, and this gate, right now, seemed like the best place to listen to Mom.
The woman next to me yelled into her phone once more. “No!” Tell him I won’t pay for that! He can go to court if he wants to fight about it. Here are some screenshots!”
It jumped off the chair and began to bark again. High-pitched and never-ending.
When a gate worker came out to make an announcement, she saw what was going on and quickly went back inside.
I got up.
She gave me an angry sideways look. “What now?”
I smiled. “Just stretching.”
She rolled her eyes and went back to her call.
I moved away a few feet, stretched my arms, and then walked over to the edge of the gate and leaned against the window. It didn’t take long for her to think I was gone. Just long enough for my plan to work.
After that, I went back, sat down next to her again, and took out my phone without any fuss.
“Flying to Paris for fun?” I asked as if we were old friends.
She stopped talking in the middle of a sentence. “What?”
“Paris,” I said, pointing to the gate. “Are you going for work or vacation?”
She laughed. “I’m going to Rome.”
“Oh.” I quickly looked at the gate monitor and saw that it still said “ROME – ON TIME” in big letters. Then I tapped my screen like there was something new. “That’s strange.” The push warning just said that the Rome flight was moved to gate 14B. Now this gate is for Paris.”
She made a face. “What?”
And I scrolled through my phone like I was making sure. “Yeah,” I said. “They must have changed their minds at the last minute.” You should move quickly. 14B is pretty far away.
She looked at the screen. Then at me. Then she looked at her phone again. She didn’t say anything about it. Not sure about it. She just said, “Unbelievable,” got up, and began putting things into her big bag. The dog made noise. Finally, she pulled on its leash and pulled it behind her.
Her voice could be heard behind her as she stomped off. “Stupid airport. There is no one who knows what they are doing.
No one stopped her. Not the person at the gate. Not the people who are tired. No one said anything as she walked away into the crowd, leaving only a quiet trail of curses and tapping hands behind her.
I sat back down. Keep quiet. Do not bark. Don’t scream. The sound of an airport gate is all you can hear. Behind me, the screen still read “ROME – ON TIME.” She didn’t come back.
There was a quiet beat. After that, a soft laugh. Someone in the back laughed, which made someone else laugh. The sound soon rolled through the gate like a soft wave. It wasn’t loud, just warm laughing, the kind that comes out when you’re feeling better.
A young woman smiled at me. A man across the aisle tipped a hat that couldn’t be seen. The mom with the child, who was now happily playing with a toy truck, smiled big and said, “Thank you.”
Someone clapped from somewhere near the food stand. Once. Stopped. Then they clapped again. Some people joined in, not sure if they should, but the moment didn’t need all of them to cheer. It only needed that quiet confirmation that something had changed.
A girl next to the window said “Yay” in a whisper and hugged her stuffed animal. They didn’t look as stressed. When the gatekeeper went back to her post, she looked surprised and maybe even thankful.
I looked at a few other people. JFK only sends one flight a day to Rome. Sorry about that.
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This work is based on real people and events, but it has been made up for artistic reasons. To protect privacy and make the story better, names, characters, and circumstances have been changed. Any similarity to real people, living or dead, or real events is completely accidental and not on purpose by the author.
The author and publisher don’t promise that the events or people are true to life, and they’re not responsible for any wrong ideas that come up. This story is given “as is,” and any ideas shown are the characters’ alone and do not represent those of the author or publisher.