A Kid Named Brody

This is something that happened Memorial Day weekend, and I'd like your opinion.

I flew to Austin Saturday morning, May 28th. It was a continuing flight, with the second leg being from Dallas to Austin. When we landed in Dallas, most of the people got off the plane. I took the chance to move from a center seat to the window. When the flight to Austin was boarding, a man named Justin took the aisle seat. Then Dana took the middle seat in the aisle in front of me.

"Sit right there." She gestured to the empty seat between Justin and me. And there he sat. Brown hair. T-shirt, shorts. A kid. He couldn't figure out how to buckle his seat belt. I did it for him. Shortly after that (a few seconds) he started talking.

"Hi! My name's Brody," he said to Justin, extending a tiny hand. Justin looked surprised, but pleased. "I'm Justin, nice to meet you." They shook hands. Brody turned left. "My name's Brody, nice to meet you!"

"I'm Amilia," I said, shaking his hand (it amazes me how small kids' hands are). Well, someone deserves credit for teaching him proper introductions.

Brody kept talking. "I'm six years old. I'm going to see my grandparents. I live in...um. Dana!" He knocked on the back of the seat in front of him. The blonde woman turned around. "Dana, where do I live?" Amarillo, apparently.

The one-sided conversation continued through the rollback, take-off and after. When the flight attendant came by as we were rolling along to the runway, Justin and I were told "if the masks come down, put your own masks on first, then help him." She gestured to Brody. I felt slightly odd. Not that wouldn't have helped him, but...I didn't know him. Was he my, or Justin's, responsibility? While flying from Dallas to Austin, yes.
During take-off, I pulled out gum. Brody asked for some, but I wasn't sure if Dana (whoever she was) would appreciate a six-year-old accepting gum from a stranger. After asking her, I gave Brody a piece of gum. He chewed enthusiastically.

My original plan had been to write. But scribbling away in a notebook with Brody two inches away was not going to happen. He told me more things - about visiting his grandparents, his mom's phone number (I promptly forgot it, and made a mental note to tell my sister to give my nephew the Do Not Talk To Strangers speech earlier rather than later), the fact that he didn't know his dad's phone number, his dad was on the plane, his dad was going to marry Dana...

Ah. So THAT'S who she is. And what was that? His father's on the plane?

While Brody scribbled in my notebook (with my permission), I looked at this cute kid. Nice, friendly. Pretty well behaved, despite the fact that he hadn't learned to not talk to strangers. But that's a hard thing to do (or not do) on a plane. I started to get angry. Then I tried to not feel angry. After all, this child was sitting between two friendly, responsible, stable adults. Justin had two kids. (Brody asked him if he had any, and asked me as well.) And in a very short time we were all going to get off the plane and go in separate directions and most likely, never see each other again.

But his father was on the plane. And his father's fiancee. And neither one was sitting next to Brody.

Am I overreacting? I've been told I am. Maybe I am. Dana was sitting right in front of him.

It's just this - I know what I would have done if Brody had been my responsibility getting on the plane. I would have asked for two seats. And I would have sat next to him. Even if he had been talking my ear off since the early morning.

As everyone walked out of the terminal, I saw Brody, walking with Dana and his dad. And I thought, If anything happens to him, I'm going to find you and kick your butt.

Your thoughts, please. Overreaction?

-BR