My Father on the Tarmac Before the Age of Shoe Bombs

If he did today what he did back then, he’d be thrown in jail

Years ago, before terrorism, shoe bombs and 9/11, my father and mother were on their way back home from a vacation in the Caribbean. When my father checked in at the airport, tanned and rested, the ticket agent informed him that the flight was “overbooked” and he would neeed to be re-ticketed, along with my mom, and put on a later plane

This, shall we say, did not sit well with Barney. You see, he had a confirmed ticket in his pocket and needed to get back to work. The ticket agent, following airline protocols, repeated the party line, explaining ever-so-politely that Mr. and Mrs. Ditkoff would need to be re-ticketed, which she would be happy to do.

This was not the response my father was looking for. Not even close.

So he went to the gate, found an exit door and, along with my mother, briskly made his way onto the tarmac. Once there, he made a beeline for the portable stairway the other passengers on his flight were now boarding. Boldly, he moved to the front of the line, grabbed both handrails tightly and blocked everyone’s entrance.

Whatever the flight attendants tried to do to appease him did not work. He simply grabbed on harder and stood his…