The Best Reward is Knowing that You Helped
My parents and I were about to take a flight for a vacation, was about 12 years old at the time. As everyone was getting seated I heard a young boy, about 7 or 8, crying — the kind of cry you’d hear from a kid that got lost.
Apparently he was flying unaccompanied. I thought about it for a minute, then asked my parents if it was OK to talk to him. I’m not sure what they were expecting me to do, and neither did I.
After walking up to him and asking if it was alright to sit in the empty seat next to him (he had the 3 seats to himself), I made small talk just to get him to feel comfortable, taking his mind off his situation.
We spent the next couple hours of the flight playing games, doing puzzles, reading, coloring — the usual stuff that a kid would do. After the flight was over, we said our goodbyes as we headed to the baggage claim.
Both of his parents were there to receive him and I watched from the other side of the baggage turntable as he talked to his father and then pointed in my direction. His dad walked over to me, extended his hand and thanked me profusely. I felt pretty good after that. El_Fader