A Touching Airplane Story

~ Clarissa

People won’t believe this story is true because it happened right after I published posts on the importance of reading for kids. The story is true, though, so I’ll publish it.

A couple with 2 small kids was sitting next to me on my flight. The father was reading to his son of about 4 years of age. Several children’s books they dropped were strewn around in the aisle. A little girl observed the father and the son for a while, picked up a book and stood next to them hoping to be read to as well. Another little boy from two rows ahead of us saw what was going on. He came up timidly, picked up a book for himself and took his place in line.

These kids really wanted an adult to read to them. So the father of the 4-year-old read to all of them in turn.

All the kids were traveling with their own parents.

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Published by Clarissa

18 thoughts on “A Touching Airplane Story”

  2. That is touching and sad at the same time. I have a 2 year old and a 7 year old that are read to at night. No matter what else is going on, we read both a story. I would rather cut off my arm than stop this tradition!

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  5. Out of curiosity where was your flight to and from? I’m only wondering if you were by chance flying to or from the UK. Obviously you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.

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      1. The reason I was asking was because for a while about 2 years ago or so British Airways actually had a rule in place saying that men could not be seated near unaccompanied (as far as I can tell unaccompanied could range from parents simply not sitting next to the minor to the minor not having a parent with them on board) minors during a flight. If the man could not be moved to another seat he would actually be removed from the flight (which basically allowed BA to be total chicken shits and leave other passengers mad at the guy in question because it looked like it was his fault the flight was held up).

        Thankfully one such man took a stand, sued the airline, and won. Sad part is it still took BA about another year after the judgment to finally get rid of that rule.

        So basically asking because if that had been a BA flight under that old rule the attendants probably would have broken up the impromptu story time with the other kids.

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        1. Really?? Why? Because every man is a potential pedophile or something?

          And I thought I heard every bit of insanity under the sun.

          Is that really true? It isn’t that I doubt your words but this is just too bizarre to imagine.

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  7. Sadly, Danny’s story is true – BA put the rule in place because it was worried about being sued should anything untoward happen to an unaccompanied minor. Of course, then they did get sued, so I suppose the moral of the story is that risk aversion as an overall strategy is not always a successful one.

    Your story Clarissa, mainly made me feel sad. Although it is of course, very sweet, and definitely creates the impression f the 4 year old’s father as a decent person.

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  8. Our read aloud book right now is Moby Dick, a drastic change from Swiss Family Robinson for sure! I’m glad that Dad read to the kids rather than tell them that they would have to take the books back to their parent’s. No one has any time now days to read books aloud, it’s a pity.

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  9. In the teaching hospital where I work, the busiest clinics have volunteers who sit and read to the kids in the waiting room. The kids love it.

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