There is the problem of evil, but counterbalancing the petty evils are the unexpected joys of life. Sherlock Holmes saw hope for Providence in the flowers, I found it today in the Montgomery Airport
If you do not know Montgomery, Alabama, and Faulkner University, you should. Faulkner University is a soul sister to HBU in terms of classical education and they hosted me this weekend for a conference,
Everyone was gracious and Hope and I made it to the airport and then a marvelous thing happened. Our flight was delayed two hours and we got to spend three extra hours in the Montgomery Airport. It was their last flight of the day so we had almost the entire airport to ourselves.
The goodness began at the Subway where the lady felt so badly for us she made us the sub from God. If it did not have extra meat, it tasted as if it did. The only open place was the airport pub where the service was so personal we might as well have been related. We watched the Andy Griffith Show and then it happened. Walking through the airport serving Fitbit, a constant master, I found a Bart Starr football from Super Bowl I and other memorabilia from other lesser Alabama gridiron heroes.
Insert joy here.
We sat in a rocking chair and read. Talked to a fine young man about marriage and a pilot about his trip to a friend’s funeral. I took another walk and discovered a gregarious airport employee also on her Fitbit walk. We compared tips on suffering and then kept walking.
Delta employess rebooked us for the next flight and chatted with me about the changing world of air travel. She was competent, concerned, and calm. We carried on. The young TSA agent discussed the Second World War and veterans we had known. We agreed that generation would never have taken off their shoes to get on a plane.
Is there anything sweeter than life’s surprises? We might have flown faster through the Montgomery Airport, but we would have been cheated out of gentle pleasures. Unexpectedly, Delta shuffled things around to get us home to Houston, capital of the 21st century. We got some free snacks and water and wallowed in Southern hospitality. It isn’t much this post. No culture saving advice or red hot republican rhetoric, just thankful for First World pleasures delivered with Victorian gentility. 
Thank you Montgomery Airport: Hope and I were happy.
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