Impatience by D.I. Jolly
“Look, I’m not trying to be an arsehole here but that sign has said 30 minutes delay for the last three hours. I just want to know what’s going on.”
“Yes sir, and so does everyone else. As soon as we have that information I promise there will be an announcement.”
“It’s only a two-hour flight! If you had told me three hours ago that it was going to be five hours I could have gotten another one! You constantly trying to keep people calm and pseudo-happy is just making it worse for everyone. So get on the phone, call your boss or their boss and get us some real information!”
As his voice rose the room at large grew quieter except for the few grown and grunts in agreement.
“Sir, if you don’t settle down I’m going to be forced to call security.”
Despite her attempts to keep her voice steady, there was a quiver and the obvious growing anger on the man’s face caused her knees to tremble just slightly. The man’s mouth dropped open as though he were about to scream at her but instead he turned to face the room and took a deep breath before looking back to the girl.
“So they can do what, detain me, what would that change? We’re already locked in a room with no food or water and only one toilet for 180 people, and you’re just going to stand there and threaten me?”
“Sir I….”
“No, you want to know why I’m so angry, why I’m so desperate to get home? My daughter was in a car accident and is in intensive care. My phone died an hour ago, there are no plugs on this side of the terminal, and for all I know, she’s dead. If you had told me the truth about the delay I could be there by now. So what are you going to do? Call security?”
He turned back to the room, opened his arms and raised his voice.
“Or are you going to call someone in charge and get us some real information, some refreshments and some more fucking toilet paper for that prison bathroom.”
The room quickly come up in cheers and over a dozen people stood in support and approached the now visibly shaking girl.
“What’s it going to be?”
But before she could reply additional voices started throwing their two bits into the conversation and it quickly became a cacophony of insults and demands and in a moment of pure panic the girl pressed the red button under her desk setting off the alarm in the security office, then she shrunk down under the weight of the words being thrown at her. Within a minute 47 security offices stormed the waiting room grabbing and handcuffing anyone standing or resisting. Including three innocent guys who had given up their seats for elder passengers. Even the people who thought the man was being totally unreasonable looked away as three security officers knocked him to the ground with nightsticks and dragged him bleeding out of the waiting room. The room then grew quiet again and the remaining people uncomfortably didn’t make eye contact. As a few replacements arrived to take the scared young girl away it was easy to hear the chime of the intercom and the announcer declare that their flight would be delayed an additional 30 minutes and that food vouchers could be collected at the reception desk but boarding cards and passports would be required.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, a young girl weakly asked for her father before closing her eyes, never to open them again.