My Teacher Once Ruined My Future over a 10-Minute Delay – Years Later She Was Begging Me to Break the Rules for Her
Mrs. Pitt came back to the gate console looking nothing like the woman who had run through the terminal 10 minutes ago.
Hair loose. Coat wrinkled. Glasses slightly crooked from the baby.
There was a small smear of something on the knee of her good coat from where she’d sat on the airport floor. She hadn’t bothered to brush it off.
“Three,” she said before I could. “That was harder than I expected.”
“Life usually is, Mrs. Pitt!”
There was a small smear of something on the knee.
She looked back at the young mother, who was rocking her baby with her eyes closed and her shoulders finally relaxed.
“I spent 30 years telling students that rules existed for a reason,” Mrs. Pitt said quietly. “I believed it. I really did.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I never thought about what the rule cost you,” she added. “I just closed the door.”
The gate monitor beeped once. Ten minutes to push back.
I printed the boarding pass and held it out.
“I spent 30 years telling students that rules existed for a reason.”
Mrs. Pitt took it, but she didn’t move toward the jet bridge right away.
“For what it’s worth, Hazel. I am so sorry about that day.”
I looked at her for a moment. Then I pressed the gate button. The door unlocked with a clean, solid click.
“Rules should protect people, Mrs. Pitt. Not punish them.”
She walked toward the jet bridge. I watched her go.
My teacher taught me rules for 12 years. It only took 10 minutes to teach her something better.
“Rules should protect people. Not punish them.”
