I boarded my flight from San Luis Obispo at 6:15 AM Friday. I was already in a cranky stressed out mood because I had a fairly tight connection in Phoenix and had to change both terminals and airlines. Most airports have set up shuttles or trams so passengers who transfer terminals don’t have to go through security again—but not Phoenix. I learned this the hard way Tuesday and had run from Terminal 3 to catch the shuttle to Terminal 4 and then sprinted to get through security and to my gate. So I was already a little uptight.
In the waiting area, I saw a man pushing a wheelchair. He walked oddly but I didn’t think anything of it until right before we boarded. That’s when I realized he was a double amputee, with one leg gone above the knee and the other below the knee, which explained his odd gait. He wore a t-shirt that supported a veteran’s organization, and had a service dog with him.
I’m not all that familiar with service dogs or the criteria used to provide people with him, but I figured perhaps his injuries involved more than just his legs (as if that weren’t bad enough).
I thanked him for his service and boarded the plane. I made all my connections just fine and I hope he got where he was going with no troubles.
No comments:
Post a Comment