The thing is that my daughter has a bit of social anxiety, but once she pushes through it, she is amazing at getting done what needs doing. Thanks for all the reassurances. Currently, she should be in flight almost past TX on her way to CA. Ya know what sucks? I work in a call center. There shouldn’t be any concern about me ever missing a phone call, right? Wrong. Our Televantage server shit out on us about 30 minutes ago, so we’re in the dark. Fortunately, I have my cell with me, so if anything needs to be communicated, I have that. Ugh.
eleanorigby, I have had different experiences with different airlines. She has flown unaccompanied previously and had great help, but that was Southwest, AA and United. She’s never flown Continental before, but they seem to be doing really well so far. They had her replacement ticket waiting for her when she got off the plane in Houston, she said.
I can’t help but worry. The kid is a tall, leggy blonde. She will be fine, but I’m still going to take my maternal right to worry.
Dung Beetle – your daughter will be ok in the long run. People who have only known me as an adult are in absolute shock when they hear stories about my childhood/early adolescence. Seriously, I was one shy, introverted non-speaker. I only started “coming into my own” around age 17 and didn’t fully reach my ability to just be confident until well into my 20’s. Letting her do this trip will help boost her self-confidence, and (being an Air Force brat) I think travel is always good for kids. Helps them learn to adapt. Look at what my DD is dealing with today!
Ok, YAY! She is in San Diego and hanging out with her father, who promised to take her for some fresh sushi. Such a relief to hear from her, I think I need to hit the hay. Love you all for the wonderful reassurances. Oh, yeh, did I mention she was totally non-plussed and wanted to tell me about the really cute couple that sat next to her on the plane and how she couldn’t figure out which one she’d rather flirt with? Yep, she’s mine!
I’m glad to hear she’s okay! Hopefully she won’t catch The Dumb from her dad while she’s there, and will be able to handle the return trip with as much aplomb.
And remember: when in doubt, the answer is always “Both of them, duh!”
My response was “wait, you had to think about it?” She flirts with everyone. Hell, before we left for the airport, I took her to $tarbucks for coffee and she made all of the baristas hug her!
As for gremlins and snakes, she’d have them domesticated and put away before anyone else noticed them, the kid is Nature Girl ™.
Back before cell phones were around and she was 13, whiterabbit was traveling alone from my sister’s in Seattle to our home in Austin. She had to change flights in Dallas; needless to say, I had arranged with the airline to escort her from gate to gate, since the DFW airport is big.
I learned to my horror when she got home that when she got off the plane, she cheerfully assured the attendant that she would be just fine, and took off on her own! Made her connection just fine, but she about gave me total heart failure when I learned about it, needless to say. 13 is more than a bit young to be wandering around the DFW airport by yourself!
Kids handle these things a lot better than parents, I suspect.
So my son was going to see Grandma in Arizona by himself the summer of 2002. He had just turned 12. He arrived at Sky Harbor where he was supposed to be met by my Godparents who live in Phoenix. He was supposed to be met AT THE GATE. Which, after 9-11, they didn’t let you DO ANYMORE WHICH NO ONE TOLD US (he was flying as an unaccompanied minor or some such so SOMEONE was supposed to be looking out for him!) I get a phone call on my cell from the airlines saying they don’t know what to do with my son. You have never seen someone melt down the way I did.
Interestingly enough, while I was reassured at BNA (Nashville airport) that her father would be given a security pass to meet her at the gate, when he arrived at the San Diego airport they told him no way, no how, not gonna happen. Fortunately, they did at least get the drift that she was a minor traveling alone and told him to stay at the ticket counter and they would escort her to him. She arrived happy and eager to eat fresh sushi.
I am hoping there will be no problem when she comes home with my husband meeting her at the gate, although I suspect that since he will be going to the airport right after work, and will still be in uniform, that all will be fine. He is currently working on ADSW for the Nat’l Guard HQ in Nashville. If there is a problem, she’s been to BNA enough that she can easily find her way to baggage claim or wherever else we might arrange for them to meet. Besides, BNA is fairly small as airports go.
This reminds me of a nine year old kid I had to escort from Belarus (where he was visiting his Grandma) to New York City. A flight change was required in Germany.
The kid had a brigade of grandmothers (or bobushkas) around him at all time. About three were with him for the hand off in Belarus. All his documents were arranged neatly in a pouch which hung around his neck. Then he was met by his mom and another woman at the airport in NYC.
There must be some primal overprotection switch that gets triggered in moms when children are sent on flights. I would not be the least bit surprised if I later learn that the bobushkas were packing automatic weapons.
To provide the kid perspective: I used to shuttle between DFW and STL as a seven year old all the way through to age twelve when I attended a boarding school for the deaf. This meant racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles before I was anywhere near **Litoris’s ** daughter’s age.
This was all back in the eighties so my parents would usually escort me to the gate, and then the housemother would pick me up at the gate on the other side. Always a nonstop flight, so it wasn’t very exciting.
The first few times I flew, my parents had the airline file me as an unaccompanied minor with the pouch and everything. But after that I think they got reassured that I wouldn’t be snatched or anything because I never had to wear it again, except for one incident when someone insisted on the unaccompanied minor pouch on one flight at… uh, about age eleven or so, I think. I was pretty much :dubious: but humored the nice ticket desk lady and wore it to the gate. Then I took it off because I felt silly with it on.
I’m really late, but I’ll share a couple of my “traveling alone” stories.
Flew to Iceland by myself when I was 11. Had a connection in Baltimore to catch across the other side of the airport; no problems whatsoever. Most kids can handle this if they’ve flown before within the past few years, and the flight attendants normally make sure that kids younger than 15 or so are okay.
I took regular Greyhound trips during the first two years of college, and that’s at least as skeevy as Amtrak, if not worse. The worst I had to deal with was spending 2am-5:45am in a Greyhound station in the middle of the ghetto in Ft. Lauderdale and surrounded by the skeevy types.
Be prepared. This is just the first little step toward adulthood and independance. My daughter, now 21, is living in San Jose (I live in Central Florida). It’s strange not to talk to her every day. It’s strange not to know her friends, roommates or co-workers. It’s strange not to know about her life (well I do know but it’s not the same as living together). But I got used to it. You will too.
BTW, Whey my daughter was 14 I sent het to Tokyo to visit my sister. She had a wonderful time but I was a nervous wreck while she was in transit. She ended up entertaining several smaller children on the 15 hour trip and their parents were very grateful.
Good luck to you and your daughter. I hope she has a wonderful visit with her dad.
I’m glad your kid’s safe and sound, Litoris! An unaccompanied minor in an airport is probably in better shape than your average businessman, really. There are signs and uniformed staff everywhere, and the airline has a vested interest in getting the unaccompanied minor where s/he has to go, because if they don’t, the Concerned Parent(s) will call the counter and have eight different kind of emotional freak-outs at the poor person who is trying to check IDs and baggage at the same time. When was the last time your boss did that?
I second nashiitashii about bus rides, though. I’m at a college about 150 miles away from my folks. Too long a trip for them to drive up and get me, and too short to fly home, even if we felt like coughing up the absurdly high ticket price. (As it happens, if you’ve ever seen the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” special on TV, Ron White does his “how about that [local dinky airport]?” bit on it. “Flagstaff Airport, Hair Care and Tire Center,” is disturbingly accurate, although he forgot the rather sad-looking weather station.) It only took me a few bus trips to learn to snag a window seat and then hail the first student-y female that walked down the aisle, lest I spend 2.5 hours sitting next to some drunk on his way from Las Vegas to Tuscon instead.
Good girl!