Man Mocks 63-Year-Old Stewardess, Later Learns She Saved His Mom’s Life 35 Years Ago – Story of the Day

A young man is on a long flight home when the stewardess spills a drink on him. He screams at her, threatening to have her fired. He later learns that were it not for her kindness years ago, he might not have been alive.

"You've got to be kidding me!" screamed Connor, staring angrily at the stewardess. She had been handing him his drink when the glass slipped from her hands and spilled its contents all over him.

He was on a long flight from a five-day business trip and couldn't wait to get home. And now he had to deal with a clumsy old flight attendant?

"You're too old for this job, woman! You should go home and take care of your grandkids and leave the job to someone capable!" he continued.

"I'm so, so, sorry, sir! The glass slipped," the words stumbled out of her mouth, her face red with embarrassment.

"Listen, you old woman, this is unacceptable! Your supervisors are gonna hear about this!" he continued screaming, shaking with anger.

Olivia apologized profusely, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She tried dabbing Connor's shirt, but that got him madder. "It was an honest mistake, sir. Please forgive me!" she cried out in desperation.

"I'll make sure you never work here again!"

"Were it not for that woman, we would not be alive today," she concluded.

"Sir, please, I love my job. This was an hon—"

"Get out of my sight, old woman!" Olivia scampered out of his way and returned to the crew rest compartment, defeated.

Olivia was 63. She had worked with the airline for decades and loved her job, but she wouldn't say it had all been smooth. She had met some angry passengers, but never one as angry as Connor.

Usually, she was competent at her job, but a mishap here and there was inevitable. Or perhaps her angry passenger was right. Was it time to consider retiring?

At the airport...

The plane had finally landed, and Connor met up with his mother, who had come to pick him up. Connor was finally glad to be back in his hometown and could not wait to get home and take a well-deserved rest.

He draped a hand over his mother's shoulder as they waited at the baggage carousel. His mother was eager to hear about his experience abroad, and they chatted as they waited.

Then, his mother's eyes narrowed as she stared a short distance away. Connor looked in that direction, only to see the old stewardess approaching, along with the rest of the flight crew.

Connor's mother, Adelaide, seemed to recognize Olivia. As the crew got closer to where she and Connor were standing, she stepped in Olivia's way, stopping her in her tracks.

"Olivia?"

"Adelaide?" Olivia answered before they embraced happily.

They talked for a while and exchanged contact details, promising to catch up soon.

When Adelaide returned to where her son was standing, she could see the confusion on his face. "That woman is a gem!"

She explained that 35 years ago, she had been aboard a flight while pregnant with Connor and needed medical attention. Since there was no doctor aboard, Olivia had a few medical tricks up her sleeves and cared for her during the entire flight, ensuring she and her baby remained safe and healthy.

"Were it not for that woman, we would not be alive today," she concluded. "I still think God put her on that flight that day to save our lives."

Connor's face fell. He turned red with shame, but he did not tell his mother what had transpired on the plane. Once he got home, Connor retired to his bedroom and tried to catch some sleep, but the incidents on the plane and at the baggage carousel kept replaying in his head.

Finally, he decided to reach out to Olivia and ask to meet up so he would apologize for how he treated her. The next day, he got Olivia's number from his mother and called her.

He said he wanted to apologize in person, and would she meet him? Olivia said she would be working all week but would be free on the weekend.

A few days later...

Connor met Olivia at the airport cafe. Once they had sat down and placed their orders, Connor looked into Olivia's eyes. "I want to sincerely apologize for how I reacted during the flight. I shouldn't have been so rude and condescending."

"I understand. It was a long flight, and you must have been tired."

"It still was no excuse to treat you like I did, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

Connor said he had learned about her kindness to his mother 35 years ago and thanked her immensely for her selfless deeds. He also expressed how curious he was about why she still worked for the airline so many years later.

Olivia disclosed that she had taken her first flight as a teen and fell in love with the skies. Once she graduated from school, she studied to become a flight attendant and had been working as one since.

"It gives me so much joy to serve passengers so high in the sky," she laughed. "I could say it is my calling."

Connor thought about his job and how much he hated it. It suddenly dawned on him that he had been in the wrong profession all his life. Right there and then, he decided he would quit his job and find something that made him happy.

He thanked Olivia for opening his eyes to the possibilities life had to offer and left that cafe a changed man. Adelaide and Olivia also started catching up more and became the best of friends.

What can we learn from this story?

• Everyone deserves respect. People should learn to respect others, whether young or old. Connor should have handled the plane incident better and accorded Olivia respect despite spilling a drink on him.
• Always strive to do what makes you happy. Despite her age, Olivia still worked as a flight attendant, and it made her happy. And she taught the same to Connor.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a manager who yells at a new mom for feeding her baby in the cafe, only for other customers to team up against him.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.