#skycap

Luke: [age 16] “I can’t believe how airport security worked before 9/11. You could just walk in off the street and go straight to the gate.”

Me: “Yep. No security, not really. And you could drive up to the curb and somebody would come check your bags.”

Beth: [age 13] “What?”

Mom: “They were called skycaps.”

Me: “Yeah, that was it.”

Mom: “You had to tip them if they did a good job. Honestly, it was a good idea to tip them anyway, since they could ‘accidentally’ redirect your luggage somewhere if you were rude to them.”

Me: [faux support call] “I’m sorry, ma’am, your luggage was sent to Birmingham, Alabama, instead of Binghamton, New York? Ooops.”

Luke: “So you didn’t even have to wait in line at the counter?”

Mom: “Only if you needed something special.”

Luke: “And now Dad is like, ‘We have a 9am flight so we’re leaving at 5am so we have enough time to get through security.’”