JohnQuixote
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2004
- Messages
- 5,212
I’d like to step out of my normal role in this thread and ask for community advice relating to a personal event from the weekend. This is not a must-read, but I hope a few people will have time to look it over. Thanks in advance for your always-valuable input.
*
My lady and I took a fun, mini-getaway last Fri-Sun. Part of the package was a redeye flight back to TX. Originally a 4:00 AM arrival, it was delayed and we didn’t land until 5:45 AM.
We took the inter-terminal train to get back to our car. At the second stop a little girl ran on just as the doors closed. The train began moving and she just stood there, looking at the doors. There were a dozen people on the train but it soon became apparent that the little girl wasn’t with any of them. She was petrified. She just kept just staring at the doors.
At the next stop (ours) we got up and before we stepped off I asked her where her parents were. She pointed back to where the train had come from. Sure enough, she’d jumped on and her family didn’t! I looked at the collection of people riding the train and decided there was no way we were going to leave her alone. We led her off and the train moved on. We found out her name was Vickie and she was 7. She was able to tell us her parents’ names too, trying hard to maintain her composure but obviously very frightened. We introduced ourselves and told her not to worry, that we would help her find her mommy and daddy. We waited for the next train, in case her parents tried to follow her, but no one got off.
So there we stood, alone, in a massive, scary terminal with someone else’s 7 year old trying very hard not to cry. We did the logical thing and started looking for a policeman. No security personnel were in sight for the first gate or two, but we did spot some red vested airport employees with radios…
If I could do it again I would walk on by and keep looking for the police. We had no idea what frustration lay ahead.
The red vested guys talked it over and decided we should take her to the “office” (this sounded good to us). One of them asked us to follow. He walked us (30 gates!) to the office. I was ok with this, but imagine being a scared 7 year old in PJs and pink sneakers walking such a long distance, holding the hands of total strangers while trying to keep up with red vest guy, who was walking 10 feet in front of us. Every time it got quiet she looked about to cry, so we made light conversation. She was very brave. We kept eyes out for a police officer, but that section of the terminal was deserted. I haven’t taken any courses in prepubescent social math, but I’m pretty sure that deserted airport + lost + long walk + strangers = very scary to a 7 year old.
Unfortunately, things got no better. The “office” turned out to be the terminal’s Lost & Found area. When we arrived our escort turned around and left and the people there did not appear to have interest in anything other than lost backpacks and ipods. As a matter of fact, we were first told that they weren’t opening for another hour and we’d have to wait. I asked them if there was a security officer anywhere. No one knew. I asked if they could call one on the radio. Wrong channel, I was told. I had to explain succinctly to the lady in charge what the situation was. I told her that this girl’s family was probably going out of their minds with fright. Further, they had a plane to catch (I found this out from Vickie on the long walk). I realize this situation was probably not on this lady’s list of duties but no one else was around. I told her I had no knowledge of the airport, and surely she must know someone who could help. Eventually she picked up a phone and made a call. I heard her ask for the parents to be paged. We waited for that page, all the time reassuring Vickie, but after 30 minutes nothing had happened.
Remember, we had been on vacation, stayed up all night and took the red-eye home. This whole episode felt surreal to us. Vickie was losing her battle with not-crying. Meanwhile the people in the office were not being very sensitive to her situation. One guy came in wearing sleeves and a tie (Lost & Found management?) and wisecracked, in her hearing, that we should have just left her on the train. Others were talking about how parents should have their kids on leashes or leave them at home. We couldn’t believe it. Vickie was not taking the comments well. There was a lot of loud talk and laughing that frightened her. Then one young lady who was about 20 years old came and spoke with us, honestly concerned. She left the office with info I gave her and found a ticket agent. When she came back she told us the flight and gate where the girl was supposed to be boarding... Finally we knew SOMETHING. We couldn’t believe it when the red-vest lady in charge (the one who didn’t want to deal with it in the first place), turned around and got mad at the 20 year old for bothering the gate agent to get information! Not for some privacy-of-airline passengers concern; for ‘bothering that agent.’ I’m a reasonable person, and understand different points of view but on behalf of a scared, shocked 7 year old I was at my limit.
Vickie had now been away from her parents for nearly 45 minutes. We heard no paging over the airport PA system. There was no offer of assistance to get her to her gate, even though we had that information. Nobody in charge appeared to do anything beyond the first phone call. Some continued wisecracking in the office was only frightening Vickie and nothing else was happening that I could see evidence of.
Thankfully we finally saw an airport police officer. We took Vickie from the office and flagged him down. I explained the situation and he got on his shoulder radio. The police had indeed received the report of a missing girl, but it turns out the main security office for the airport had never been contacted about our finding her (I have no idea who the red vest lady contacted for the ‘page’). The security office did not know where the rest of the family currently was, or where they were going. We told the officer we knew Vickie’s name, her parents’ names and what flight she was supposed to be on. A ticket agent confirmed the info we’d been given for the officer. That agent also got on the phone to someone in the paging office. Sure enough, there was an immediate page over the PA. Another officer called to say he’d alert the parents to meet Vickie at their departure gate, since he’d seen the dad and mom running around like crazy people.
The departure gate was in another terminal, so a cart was sent to get Vickie. She didn’t want to leave us (some of the attitudes had put her in a panic) but we promised she’d be going to see her mommy and daddy and sister. The police officer was a grandfather and was really good with her. He squeezed into the cart, they drove off, she met the parents and they all made their flight.
I was so bothered by the attitudes of the red vested workers in that airport office that it took me a long time to get to sleep once I got home. I just couldn't fathom treating an event like that so callously.
*
That’s the story. Here’s the advice I seek: This is a practice letter. I intend to send a final draft to the airport’s ‘red vest' company as a criticism and another to the airport police as a thank you.
It’s impossible to remove emotional perception from a story like this. Anyone working in a service-oriented position knows what it’s like to have your intentions perceived differently than you intended. To that end, I don’t think the red vest gang was ‘bad,’ but I believe they did not treat this situation with a reasonable level of urgency or human sensitivity. I didn’t say this in the letter, but given today’s airport climate I’d actually hope any ‘out of the box’ situation involving panic would be handled with TLC by those trained to work with airport pedestrians.
My intent is to represent facts as we perceived them without over-dramatizing the events. Pricescope is a great place for feedback and I appreciate your thoughts about the way this reads.
*
My lady and I took a fun, mini-getaway last Fri-Sun. Part of the package was a redeye flight back to TX. Originally a 4:00 AM arrival, it was delayed and we didn’t land until 5:45 AM.
We took the inter-terminal train to get back to our car. At the second stop a little girl ran on just as the doors closed. The train began moving and she just stood there, looking at the doors. There were a dozen people on the train but it soon became apparent that the little girl wasn’t with any of them. She was petrified. She just kept just staring at the doors.
At the next stop (ours) we got up and before we stepped off I asked her where her parents were. She pointed back to where the train had come from. Sure enough, she’d jumped on and her family didn’t! I looked at the collection of people riding the train and decided there was no way we were going to leave her alone. We led her off and the train moved on. We found out her name was Vickie and she was 7. She was able to tell us her parents’ names too, trying hard to maintain her composure but obviously very frightened. We introduced ourselves and told her not to worry, that we would help her find her mommy and daddy. We waited for the next train, in case her parents tried to follow her, but no one got off.
So there we stood, alone, in a massive, scary terminal with someone else’s 7 year old trying very hard not to cry. We did the logical thing and started looking for a policeman. No security personnel were in sight for the first gate or two, but we did spot some red vested airport employees with radios…
If I could do it again I would walk on by and keep looking for the police. We had no idea what frustration lay ahead.
The red vested guys talked it over and decided we should take her to the “office” (this sounded good to us). One of them asked us to follow. He walked us (30 gates!) to the office. I was ok with this, but imagine being a scared 7 year old in PJs and pink sneakers walking such a long distance, holding the hands of total strangers while trying to keep up with red vest guy, who was walking 10 feet in front of us. Every time it got quiet she looked about to cry, so we made light conversation. She was very brave. We kept eyes out for a police officer, but that section of the terminal was deserted. I haven’t taken any courses in prepubescent social math, but I’m pretty sure that deserted airport + lost + long walk + strangers = very scary to a 7 year old.
Unfortunately, things got no better. The “office” turned out to be the terminal’s Lost & Found area. When we arrived our escort turned around and left and the people there did not appear to have interest in anything other than lost backpacks and ipods. As a matter of fact, we were first told that they weren’t opening for another hour and we’d have to wait. I asked them if there was a security officer anywhere. No one knew. I asked if they could call one on the radio. Wrong channel, I was told. I had to explain succinctly to the lady in charge what the situation was. I told her that this girl’s family was probably going out of their minds with fright. Further, they had a plane to catch (I found this out from Vickie on the long walk). I realize this situation was probably not on this lady’s list of duties but no one else was around. I told her I had no knowledge of the airport, and surely she must know someone who could help. Eventually she picked up a phone and made a call. I heard her ask for the parents to be paged. We waited for that page, all the time reassuring Vickie, but after 30 minutes nothing had happened.
Remember, we had been on vacation, stayed up all night and took the red-eye home. This whole episode felt surreal to us. Vickie was losing her battle with not-crying. Meanwhile the people in the office were not being very sensitive to her situation. One guy came in wearing sleeves and a tie (Lost & Found management?) and wisecracked, in her hearing, that we should have just left her on the train. Others were talking about how parents should have their kids on leashes or leave them at home. We couldn’t believe it. Vickie was not taking the comments well. There was a lot of loud talk and laughing that frightened her. Then one young lady who was about 20 years old came and spoke with us, honestly concerned. She left the office with info I gave her and found a ticket agent. When she came back she told us the flight and gate where the girl was supposed to be boarding... Finally we knew SOMETHING. We couldn’t believe it when the red-vest lady in charge (the one who didn’t want to deal with it in the first place), turned around and got mad at the 20 year old for bothering the gate agent to get information! Not for some privacy-of-airline passengers concern; for ‘bothering that agent.’ I’m a reasonable person, and understand different points of view but on behalf of a scared, shocked 7 year old I was at my limit.
Vickie had now been away from her parents for nearly 45 minutes. We heard no paging over the airport PA system. There was no offer of assistance to get her to her gate, even though we had that information. Nobody in charge appeared to do anything beyond the first phone call. Some continued wisecracking in the office was only frightening Vickie and nothing else was happening that I could see evidence of.
Thankfully we finally saw an airport police officer. We took Vickie from the office and flagged him down. I explained the situation and he got on his shoulder radio. The police had indeed received the report of a missing girl, but it turns out the main security office for the airport had never been contacted about our finding her (I have no idea who the red vest lady contacted for the ‘page’). The security office did not know where the rest of the family currently was, or where they were going. We told the officer we knew Vickie’s name, her parents’ names and what flight she was supposed to be on. A ticket agent confirmed the info we’d been given for the officer. That agent also got on the phone to someone in the paging office. Sure enough, there was an immediate page over the PA. Another officer called to say he’d alert the parents to meet Vickie at their departure gate, since he’d seen the dad and mom running around like crazy people.
The departure gate was in another terminal, so a cart was sent to get Vickie. She didn’t want to leave us (some of the attitudes had put her in a panic) but we promised she’d be going to see her mommy and daddy and sister. The police officer was a grandfather and was really good with her. He squeezed into the cart, they drove off, she met the parents and they all made their flight.
I was so bothered by the attitudes of the red vested workers in that airport office that it took me a long time to get to sleep once I got home. I just couldn't fathom treating an event like that so callously.
*
That’s the story. Here’s the advice I seek: This is a practice letter. I intend to send a final draft to the airport’s ‘red vest' company as a criticism and another to the airport police as a thank you.
It’s impossible to remove emotional perception from a story like this. Anyone working in a service-oriented position knows what it’s like to have your intentions perceived differently than you intended. To that end, I don’t think the red vest gang was ‘bad,’ but I believe they did not treat this situation with a reasonable level of urgency or human sensitivity. I didn’t say this in the letter, but given today’s airport climate I’d actually hope any ‘out of the box’ situation involving panic would be handled with TLC by those trained to work with airport pedestrians.
My intent is to represent facts as we perceived them without over-dramatizing the events. Pricescope is a great place for feedback and I appreciate your thoughts about the way this reads.
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