His Airport Disaster Left Him In Tears, And Taught Him A Valuable Lesson About Kids' Emotions

Now that another new school year is starting, educator Gerry Brooks (@gerrybrooksprin) wants to remind parents and teachers alike to be more understanding when it comes to their kids.

A little sympathy and empathy can go a long way! To drive the point home, he shared a chaotic travel story that ended with him crying on the plane.

A couple of years ago, he woke up to a message at 6:05 a.m., saying that his American Airlines flight was boarding. He had accidentally set his alarm for p.m. instead of a.m.

The airport was just eight miles down the road, and it would take him 15 minutes to get there. He threw on some clothes, grabbed his backpack, and ran out the door. He got to the airport in 14 minutes flat.

As he was getting out of his car, he heard his name being called on the airport's intercom system. He sprinted through the airport, made a mad dash through security, and reached the terminal just in time.

One of the flight attendants was standing there, holding the door open for him. They knew him at this airline, and it was unlike him to be late, so they decided to wait for him.

It should've made his day because he still managed to get on the plane in a matter of minutes after waking up from a deep sleep. But his emotions were all over the place, and he even cried on the plane.

When he landed, he argued with the lady at the rental car place because he had to drive five hours, and all they had were gas guzzlers.

He was unable to regulate his emotions because of how he almost missed his flight that morning.

babaroga - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only

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He pointed out that if adults can't regulate their own emotions, how can we expect elementary, middle, and high school students to regulate their emotions?

Students go through a lot in their day-to-day lives, whether it is their girlfriend breaking up with them, their mom screaming at them in front of their friends, or a bully calling them names.

"If we, as adults, know that when our mornings start off horribly, our entire day goes horribly, then why are we expecting kids to be able to regulate their own emotions with the things that they are going through?" concluded Gerry.

"Reminder to secondary teachers that this includes our kids, too. They may look like grown-ups, but they sure as heck aren’t. They need our grace as well," one person commented on Gerry's video.

"Adults think kids are misbehaving. They are reacting to something! Maybe it was a traumatic event, or maybe they’re hungry or tired. It’s a reaction! Adults do the same thing…hangry is a word for a reason. Thank you!" another exclaimed.

"My son's 4th-grade teacher has a 'handle with care' policy. If he is having a tough morning, we can simply tell her 'handle with care' and she will be aware. We have not had to do this, but it is appreciated," someone else said.