Shout-Out To Kind Airport Employees Everywhere!

This happened a few years ago, back in 2017 or something. I was visiting my friend who lives in Seattle for a few weeks, and this was also my first trip to the USA; I live in Scandinavia.

After a few weeks, it was time for me to travel back home. I didn’t have to be at the airport until the evening, so we spent the day in Seattle, having a blast. I checked with my friend when I should be at the airport, and they said I should be fine with an hour or an hour and a half before my flight leaves, so we decided to drop me off at 18:00. Keep in mind, I was only twenty, I hadn’t traveled too much without my parents, and I also didn’t know the American airport rules, so I didn’t think of checking this myself; I relied on the information my friend gave me, assuming they knew. (Just so it’s said, I don’t blame my friend for anything. I should’ve checked things myself.)

We got there at like 17:50 and said our goodbyes. I walked in with my suitcase, looking for the check-in for my flight. But I couldn’t find it. I started to stress a little and walked back and forth looking for it. I don’t remember how I found out, but I apparently had to check in at the “other airlines” desk, or something like that, which was a tiny desk at the very back.

When I found the desk, it was 18:01.

Employee: “I’m sorry, but we closed check-in at 18:00.”

I immediately started to cry — like BAWLING. The tickets were like 800 to 1000 dollars, at least, and I couldn’t afford a new one. I had a complete breakdown, called my father, and freaked out.

Father: “I’ll figure out what to do and call you back in a minute.”

Meanwhile, the woman at the desk was typing furiously and looking at her computer for anything to help me. I’m sure she saw how upset I was, and I’m not sure if she felt sorry for me. But she found a flight the next day at 13:00. It was even a direct flight back home, while the one I was supposed to take had to land in Amsterdam. She put me on the flight and told me when to show up, where to check in my luggage, etc.

And… I didn’t have to pay anything. She never said anything about how much it cost or how to pay or anything. I never saw a bill. I didn’t really think about how kind that was of her, so I remember that in the midst of panic, I never really thanked her besides a rushed “thank you”. I regret it to this day. I don’t know the policy for rescheduling a ticket, but I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be fairly expensive since it was my fault for not showing up at the right time. But this might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.