Family class tops business class anytime

I did a lot of traveling this summer.  Some for work, some personal.  Vacations, family, conventions.

Early in my career, I thought travel was romantic. The people in my newsrooms who got to go on trips were doing cool stuff.

It certainly can be a great perk, but traveling for work is also tiring. And it takes me away from family, friends, routine.  I'm not alone in that feeling.

One of the sweetest things I saw on my trips this summer was a woman who appeared to be a pretty senior exec -- you know how it goes, fashion, nails, hair. All giveaways. All first class.

She wandered down the aisle in her power suit with the rest of us. The only difference was she was holding on to the hand of a 6-year-old boy.  It was June. School was out. She had a meeting somewhere, but she also had a little one who was out of school.

The sweet part came when she got to the row in front of me. She leaned down and quietly asked the man in the middle seat if he'd swap tickets with her so she could sit next to her son.  He said sure, got up, retrieved his bag and exchanged tickets.  That's when he realized she was sending him back up to First Class where her corporate-funded seat was.  She was trading a middle seat back in the cattle car to sit with her boy.  Her young son who was on a very cool field trip with his mom.

What did you do on your summer vacation?  That little guy watched videos and chatted with his mom all the way from Chicago to L.A.  What did she do? She got the job done and had an adorable plus-one for all her adventures.