Arlene was nervous that morning. She was about to send her seven-year-old son, Justin, on a plane all by himself. He was flying from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia all the way to Orlando, Florida, to see his dad, Pierce.<\/p>\n
It was Justin\u2019s very first time traveling alone as an unaccompanied minor. Arlene clutched his hand tightly, her heart beating fast, but the airline attendant reassured her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be alright, Mrs. Cardigan,\u201d the woman said warmly. \u201cPlenty of kids travel alone every day. Your son will have an escort the entire way. And this is the best flight\u2014no connections. Everything will go perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arlene tried to smile. Her son was still so little, even if he thought he was grown-up. She was terrified, but Justin hadn\u2019t seen his father in years, not since the ugly divorce that drove Pierce to move down to Orlando. When Pierce finally got time off work and invited Justin to visit, promising theme parks and superheroes, Arlene couldn\u2019t say no.<\/p>\n
She crouched down in front of her son and grabbed his shoulders gently.
\n\u201cOk, Justin. You\u2019re going with this lady and getting on the plane. Listen to the adults around you. Don\u2019t wander off. The second you land in Orlando, you call me. Then you call again once you\u2019re with your dad. Understand?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Mom!\u201d Justin grinned, raising his hand in a silly salute.<\/p>\n
Arlene laughed nervously and kissed his forehead. \u201cLove you, buddy. Go on now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin proudly grabbed the attendant\u2019s hand and marched toward the gate. Arlene stood frozen until he disappeared, then sat in a caf\u00e9, staring at the flight board. She wasn\u2019t going anywhere until that plane was safely in the sky. When it finally took off, she sighed. In less than two hours, Justin would be with his dad.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Florida, Pierce was buzzing with excitement. He\u2019d arrived early at Orlando International Airport and was standing near the arrivals gate, pacing back and forth.<\/p>\n
He muttered, \u201cMaybe I should\u2019ve brought a sign with his name on it.\u201d He looked around at other parents holding colorful posters for their kids. But no matter\u2014Justin would recognize him right away.<\/p>\n
The plane landed, passengers streamed out, but\u2026 no Justin.<\/p>\n
Pierce waited. Maybe his son needed the restroom. Maybe the escort had to check something. But as the crowd thinned out, his smile began to fade. An hour passed. Still no Justin.<\/p>\n
Finally, Pierce flagged down an airline worker. \u201cExcuse me, my son was supposed to be on that flight. He\u2019s traveling as an unaccompanied minor. His name is Justin Cardigan. Where is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
The attendant frowned and checked her screen. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, sir. There\u2019s no record of a Justin Cardigan on this flight. And no unaccompanied minor registered under that name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Pierce\u2019s heart dropped. His voice grew urgent. \u201cThat\u2019s impossible. Please check again!\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman typed again, but shook her head. Just then, Pierce\u2019s phone rang. It was Arlene.<\/p>\n
\u201cPierce,\u201d she began quickly, \u201cwhy hasn\u2019t Justin called me? He promised he would call when he landed, and when he met you. Did you forget to remind him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pierce closed his eyes, trying to steady his voice. \u201cArlene\u2026 he\u2019s not here. They\u2019re saying he wasn\u2019t on the flight at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? NO! That\u2019s crazy!\u201d Arlene screamed into the phone. \u201cCheck again! I\u2019m going to ask someone here too. I\u2019m still at the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArlene, calm down\u2014\u201d Pierce tried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am NOT calming down! This is our child, Pierce! Call me back!\u201d she snapped and hung up.<\/p>\n
Pierce turned to the attendant, sweating. \u201cPlease, miss. He\u2019s only seven years old. If he\u2019s not here, where is he? Should I call the police?\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in Virginia, Arlene\u2019s phone buzzed again\u2014it was Justin! She snatched it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustin! Where are you? Why didn\u2019t you call me sooner?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom,\u201d the little boy said in a small voice, \u201cwe\u2019ve been looking for Dad for hours, but we can\u2019t find him anywhere. Did you talk to him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arlene\u2019s stomach dropped. She demanded to speak to the escort, who confirmed the same thing: \u201cWe\u2019ve looked everywhere. No one named Pierce Cardigan is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frustrated, Arlene called Pierce again. \u201cJustin says he\u2019s at the airport, searching for you! What do you mean he\u2019s not there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pierce ran a hand through his hair. \u201cThat\u2019s impossible! Everyone here insists he wasn\u2019t even on the flight!\u201d<\/p>\n
Arlene froze. A thought flashed in her mind. She quickly opened her email. Instead of sending Pierce a screenshot of the flight details earlier, she had typed them out. Her eyes widened as she reread her message.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
She grabbed the phone. \u201cPierce, where exactly are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Orlando International Airport\u2014MCO. Where else would I be?\u201d Pierce answered, confused. Then it hit him too.<\/p>\n
Arlene shouted, \u201cJustin landed at ORLANDO SANFORD International Airport!\u201d<\/p>\n
There was silence for a beat. Then Pierce gasped. \u201cJesus, Arlene! Why didn\u2019t you say that in your email? Almost all flights land at MCO! I\u2019m on my way. Thirty minutes!\u201d<\/p>\n
Pierce bolted for the parking lot, racing to his car. Meanwhile, Arlene called Justin back and explained the mix-up to his escort. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, sweetheart. Dad\u2019s coming to get you. Just wait right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less than an hour later, Arlene\u2019s phone rang again.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom!\u201d Justin\u2019s cheerful voice rang out. \u201cI\u2019m with Dad now! We found each other! Thank you for helping us. We\u2019re going to Disney tomorrow\u2014I\u2019ll send you pictures!\u201d<\/p>\n
Arlene\u2019s knees buckled with relief. She took a long, shaky breath, finally allowing herself to leave the airport caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Lesson learned?
\nWhen sending flight details, always double-check the airport codes. A single mistake nearly tore these parents apart with worry.<\/p>\n
And while the unaccompanied minor service is helpful, sometimes nothing beats being right there with your child\u2014especially if you\u2019re a mom like Arlene, who worries enough for two parents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arlene was nervous that morning. She was about to send her seven-year-old son, Justin, on a plane all by himself. He was flying from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia all the way to Orlando, Florida, to see his dad, Pierce. It was Justin\u2019s very first time traveling alone as an unaccompanied minor. Arlene […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38179,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38178\/revisions\/38179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}