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I was on the last leg of a long business trip. It was late in the afternoon at an overwhelmed
Portland airport, people everywhere. It was raining outside—normal. Everyone looked as grumpy as I felt.

I was scheduled to catch a small commuter to a small town on the other side of the Cascades. I stood because there were so few seats left. No matter. I needed to stand anyway to get the blood flowing in my legs from the long flight to
Portland.

All eyes suddenly turned to a corner of the small commuter terminal. A loud voice was asking questions—a lot of them. I saw a teenage boy, maybe eighteen or so. Upon further observation, everyone realized he had Down Syndrome. But he was so happy. It seemed that he knew no stranger. He talked to anyone close at hand. An older couple, who I assumed were his grandparents, stayed close by his side.

Now maybe it was because we were all tired, or maybe it was just a knee-jerk reaction, or maybe none of us wanted to get involved, I don’t know. But everyone seemed to react the same way—they all slowly back away from this loud-speaking young man. And yes, I found myself backing up a few paces, too. He was so happy, but, well, he was just so loud. And no one seemed in the mood for it.

Then a boarding call for a flight boomed over the speakers and part of the herd moved nervously to the gate. It wasn’t my flight, but the young man and his grandparents joined the line. The attendant responsible for checking boarding passes looked as frazzled as the rest of us. She was a little damp from the rain, and seemed very much irritated.  No one said a word to her.

Finally it came time for the young man to show his boarding pass. He handed it to her and she quickly returned it. But, he didn’t move. He stopped and looked at her very intently, and then blurted out, “ARE YOU HAPPY?”

The attendant looked startled. I think everyone was startled. For a very few seconds the machine came to a halt and everyone who heard those words immediately looked at the attendant. We saw only a blank look at first.

Seconds ticked by—and then, she smiled.

It was as if a voice suddenly called out to her, “What are you doing?” She looked at him and said, “Well, yes. Yes, I am happy.” The young man smiled at her and moved on.

But the attendant kept smiling—long after the young man had boarded his flight.

Now, I can’t tell you whether everyone who heard this conversation had a complete change of heart, that the next week, or even the next day they remembered this experience during a frustrating time at work or with family and they stopped in their tracks and smiled. But, I believe most of us that day, for those very few minutes, smiled.  We realized what idiots we had been for letting a little stress rob us of life itself.