The Kindness of Strangers: Denver International Airport December 2006

The Kindness of Strangers: Denver International Airport December 2006

At 24 hours since departure from DIA, I am bathed and rested and fed and I find myself tossing around the stories and thoughts of the people we shared it all with…

Night One – Tuesday the 19th, Jose’s birthday: We’ve reached Denver from Seattle, but the flight to Albuquerque has been cancelled at the last minute due to “weather” – eventually we find an agent who tells us “it’s the same storm that’s headed our way”.

A woman in front of us waiting to reschedule her flight to Grand Junction is inconsolable: “they are totally incompetent, I will never fly United again!” Her husband trying to convince her a rental car is not a good idea – the roads are being closed as the blizzard comes in, we can’t take that risk, I’m sorry.

It turns out her father is dying. She is desperate to reach Grand Junction and can’t believe her bad luck.

There are hotels and shuttles and it’s $48 per night, the “flight cancellation” rate. But you must come back to the airport to get a second night at that fare – so, we will never experience night 2 of hotel comfort.

I have come in my most comfortable clothing, with the warmer jackets, sweaters and socks in my checked bags – after all, I will only be in airports and airplanes so what is the need?

That very first night, we wait 2 hours for a shuttle – first moment of kindness when a private shuttle driver asks after us – “why don’t you sit in my shuttle, it’s warm in there.” I can’t believe how lucky I am; I swear I will correspond at the first chance I get.

There are plenty of chances over the next few days.

The line at the hotel for check-in is horrific, but Denver is calm and dry – not a flake of snow on the ground at 1 a.m. Wednesday. We decide we need a few hours of sleep and will not try to get the 5 a.m. shuttle.

Day Two – All Flights Are Cancelled. “We recommend booking a hotel ASAP. Shuttles will take you to your hotel.” Visibility: Close to zero. In the picture, a vehicle starting the clean-up operation.
Thomas Cooper, Getty Images


It starts to sink in – the holidays in Albuquerque are at risk, with Mother Nature working against us. We make a reservation, and spend 3 long hours in the blizzard on Island 3, hoping for a spot on a shuttle to the hotel. I am suffering from freezing feet, and realize that another passenger has only flipflops – so off I go to get socks for us both. I make us miss the shuttle – mea culpa – but pass the socks to the driver to please get them to the chilly flipflopped rider. I must apologize profusely for making us miss the only chance at hotel comfort we have.

We realize how unconnected we are – no cell phone, a source of pride – but now we can’t share our story with our friends and family, and for the first time feel envy for those who connect as we hear our story told over and over again through the voices of our new peers.

The storm is the great equalizer – not a single passenger will leave DIA until Friday, and the options are an uncomfortable stay in a well-cleaned airport, or jacked-up hotel prices with the uncertainty of return to the airport. We make our decision early – comfort will take second place to being on the first flight out of DIA.


AP Photo – Will Powers

A grandfather’s moustache is great art – but not a good omen for travel…


I wonder what is keeping me from reading the good books I have along – even my Sudoku puzzles are barely unopened – finally, I realize it’s the experience itself that keeps me enthralled. We are the nation’s big story, and yet here we are just wondering after each others’ safety and comfort. Will our nighttime neighbor reach Bogota in time for a Latin Christmas celebration – or will it be “American style” celebration on the 25th? Will our friend Ed, from Denver, make it to his 85-year-old mother’s in California and enjoy a Napa wine? How many holiday plans will be thwarted and what will the emotional cost be to the recipients and the Denver protagonists? We have dreamt of days of conversation and camaraderie in Albuquerque but for many, the stakes are much bigger. There are those who have only this chance to get together with their loved ones, and their time is quickly ticking away.


(Denver Post / Karl Gehring)

Day 3, Thursday. Up at 3:30 – okay, haven’t really slept all night – sleeping at DIA is a challenge. First in line for the Seattle’s Best Coffee, I meet other espresso addicts and we settle in for a long sit in the comfortable SBC seating (which has provided overnight bedding for employees also stranded at the airport). We are so grateful for the service and the lattes – how did we wait through the night? My Macalester College neighbor provides tech support for Denver Ed – who then discovers that among our airport residents are 6 hackers, anxious to break his firewall and see what he is up to.


AP Photo/ Will Powers

The day is long and often tedious. We decide to make the big move from the Terminal East to Concourse B – that way, we will be in the middle of the action when flights resume. We have heard about the “real mattresses” on Concourse C, but there are no concessions and we also hear it’s cold. Still – a mattress?!!


AP Photo / Will Powers

We decide to explore our options on Concourse B – our putative departure area – and Jose quickly finds a “comfortable” option… new “neighbors” have discovered the comfort of row seats. The below image shows connected seats, but there are also rows that are disconnected from each other and which form a reasonable bed when tipped over and joined at the backs. We get a little more sleep Thursday night…


AP Photo / Will Powers

The greatest kindness of our DIA stay is to be had at DIA on Thursday night. At around 8:00 p.m., I suggest we take a “stroll” through the Concourse before calling it a night. We come upon a line of fellow passengers – I say, gosh, what’s up – looks like some excitement? Well, it seems that nothing is up – but the possibility for a standby ticket for December 22, when DIA is scheduled to resume operations at noon – gosh, that’s not nothing – that’s everything!! We decide to get in line and wait to see if this lone United agent will hold out until time to book us on standby for the next day. We’ve been told it’s not possible – but here is the lone ranger agent – our salvation, our saint – sticking it out far past her regular shift to do her best to get us all on standby for DIA’s first day of resumed operations.

3 and a half hours later, we are begging our savior agent to take a break – her eyes are playing tricks on her after 12 hours of computer reading, and she is forced to ask her customers to read the numbers out loud. Still, she will not give up – there are 3 plus hours left of customers when we leave her at 1 a.m. and she will not give up. We have a confirmed reservation and an earlier standby for Friday December 22nd. A godsend! We will be home for a good night’s sleep on Friday night, thanks to the kindness of a stranger whose boss has ordered her to go home. She simply can’t see leaving us all there in line. We have been so lucky – yet again!

In the line, we see a couple of teenaged girls who surely have been best friends for years – with autographed t-shirts from their DIA experience – only to find out they have just met in the airport. Another passenger, Jill, has spent the three days alone, trying to get from her Nanny job in Jackson, Wyoming, back to Atlanta to be with her family. Her dream – to live in Europe and work with horses. We exchange emails and hope to be of help to her.

Day 4, Friday – we may get home today!

It starts to look promising. The runways are starting to look clear, and there are many snow-removing vehicles. The signs still indicate noon today – will we fly out today as hoped-for?

Our energy is focused on getting to Seattle – yet a part of me still wants to know what will come of our fellow passengers. We are on stand-by, and it comes to pass: seats TOGETHER on the 2:25 to Seattle – the first flight out to Seattle. As we sit on the tarmac waiting for the other standby passengers, I wonder to myself: what has happened with Ed? With Jill? With our Bogota friend who faced stand-by in her next airport as well? Will the German student trying to reach Spokane (who has never left Concourse B) be able to make it? What about all those children trying to get to their “other” parent – will they be booked on a flight today, or will it be one more night with the employees in the “Special Services” room?


AP Photo / Will Powers


We find ourselves at home, feeling sad about our missed visit to Albuquerque and our dear friends – and at the same time, realizing that this has been a once-in-a-lifetime… We have spent an unforgettable holiday season with new and never-to-be-seen-again friends. We can only hope that they have the chance to enjoy time with their family and friends, grateful for the hospitality we have shared at DIA – clean, warm, and friendly surroundings with a sympathetic ear from our many stranded employee helpers.

We will never forget Denver International Airport and the kindness of those we encountered there. As a fellow traveler said to me night before last – your bed? That will be there for the rest of your life!

Alison Stevens, Seattle, Washington, USA