Humanity Tram

A few months ago I was in Dallas connecting to Palm Springs California for a conference and a series of meetings. It’s a long way from Fleming Island, Florida. I usually have less than an hour to get to my connecting flight but on this occasion I was stuck in Dallas for two hours.

I visited my go to restaurant “The Salt Lick” in Terminal A. Their client care, which eludes many establishments in airport terminals where most travelers will never visit again, keeps me coming back. They treat you like family. I am usually in a hurry as most of my flights from Florida come into terminal A but connecting flights are out of D. I have to eat, grab a cocktail, have a restroom break, and make it to my connecting flight on time. This drives my wife, Ryane, crazy when we go to Jackson Hole every year as we connect through Dallas also. 

After my relaxed delicious dinner I went up the escalator to catch my tram. The trams in Dallas are small and have two sets of double doors. Like most airport trams, they will either close extremely fast or outrageously slow. It all depends on your level of need to get to your gate. As I walked in a lot happened in a split second. Under a minute but events moved so slow. 

Here we go. I walked in, moved to the back as I was one of the last stops, and turned around to face the door. There was a couple who walked in as their 6 year-old daughter got locked out by door number. Everyone by me leaped to help the mother as she punched and clawed at the door. Simultaneously, people jammed their luggage and braced themselves in the middle of door number two which was still open on the opposite side of the tram. I saw a man pushing a wheelchair and prayed he would not place the wheelchair with its occupant in the ever growing wall to block the doorway. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, a line of people opened in the tram from door one to the door two temporary exit. I grabbed the mom in front of me and pulled her by the arm towards this tunnel of Humanity. She exited the tram helped by everyone in this human chain to hug her daughter as they both cried as door two eventually closed.

There were no cheers, just looks of content. The dad was next to me watching his family as the tram pulled away and nodded with a smile and a sigh of relief. Everyone in the tram seemed to do the same. Not a word.

In under a minute, people from all walks of life became one.