The Kindness of Strangers: Two Helicopter Pilots Flew Down Low to Wave to My Three-Year-Old Son – He Was Beside Himself with Joy
My sister lives in Ukraine; I live in Australia. We had gone five long years without seeing each other when we finally reunited during a trip to Los Angeles. One day we took my three-year-old son to the beach and spent the afternoon catching up.
We had a lot of conversations about people and kindness that day. I told her how I had noticed a softer side to men since having a son. As a woman, you’re often wary of construction workers, for example – what might they say to me when I walk past? But now when I pass a building site with my son, the workers often let him play with their radio, or beep a tractor to make him laugh. It was very heartwarming and gave me a whole new perspective on the other sex.
As I shared this observation with my sister, a coastguard helicopter flew overhead. My son adores helicopters and is always fascinated to see one, so we all waved as hard as possible as it flew past.
But instead of carrying on up the coast, the helicopter suddenly looped and came back around. It began flying super low and circled around us twice, with both pilots – two men – waving at my son and mouthing “Hi!” from the cockpit. It was so close it felt like it almost landed right in front of us.
We were shocked, as was everyone else at the beach – many people began filming. My sister burst into tears. My son was beside himself with joy. It was, simply, the coolest thing ever.
It felt like an embodiment of what I had just been telling my sister – that having a little boy of my own had shown me how good men can be.
After the helicopter flew away, we were left with the memory of those two pilots who saw a little kid and decided to do something to delight him, just because they could.