Should be recorded by a female speaker, as if it were a memory of her own. Thanks!!
My dad worked for one of the major airlines, and could get free tickets. Mom hated to fly so sometimes Dad would get me a stand-by ticket and I'd fly out to spend time with friends or relatives in other cities.
I was a good, responsible kid, but I was pretty naive, and thus sometimes made bad choices.
Flying stand-by, I was often bumped and had learned to sleep on my suitcase (so no one would steal it), and once I got to ride in the cockpit jumpseat (- how cool was that!-) when all the flights were full and I needed to be home.
When I was 15, I was flying alone and got bumped in O'Hare (Chicago). I was wearing a blue skirted suit and heels because there was always the possibility of flying first class if you dressed appropriately, but I got bumped from the last possible flight of the evening.
You must remember this was in the 70s, before airport security, when you'd find homeless people and cultists and every other type of human hanging out in the airport. As I was leaving the desk and mentally preparing myself to sleep in O'Hare, one of the airline's executives, who'd been checking in with staff, came out from behind the counter and asked if I'd like to go get a pizza.
He seemed very fatherly to me, so I said yes, and off we went.
He had a really nice convertible, and we talked all the way to his apartment. And...he had a really nice penthouse apartment. We walked in, and by this time he had kind of a funny look on his face and asked, "Just how old ARE you?!" When I told him I was 15, I thought he was going to pass out...and then when I told him he looked like my Dad, he turned bright red.
I'm glad he was an honest guy because it suddenly occurred to me what he had expected and at that time I hadn't even had a boyfriend!
So...we went OUT for pizza, he took me back to the airport, and he insisted they put me in the stewardess lounge.
Funny, but I bet to this day he thinks he had as narrow an escape as I think I had!
