It was a muggy afternoon, and I had every reason to feel sorry for myself. A comedy of hassles began with the normal airport security gauntlet, followed by a random drug test, and a missed flight due to a number of mechanical, weather and late inbound flight problems. Now my flight home was full and late.
I noticed a five-year-old boy standing by his mother and watching me. Cautiously, he began to walk toward me.
我发现一个五岁小男孩站在他母亲身边看着我。他开始小心翼翼地向我走来。
“Great,” I thought. “I have to baby-sit a five-year-old. My day is now complete.”
“好极了,”我想。“我还得照看一个五岁小孩。这一天算是全完了。”
As he came closer, I was both relieved and alarmed that it wasn’t me he was after. With wide eyes, he gently touched the bill of my hat, carefully touching the emblem. I asked him if he would like to wear my captain hat, and he excitedly nodded his head. With my hat on his head, he ran to show his mother, then back to me smiling from ear to ear.
I put my hat on and gave him an airplane card. He held it with both hands in awe. I was happy that I had been briefly distracted from my self-pity fest. He looked up at me and said, “Mister, you sure are lucky.”