Thank you Lord that I spotted the three little old ladies in their long skirts and head scarves recoiling in horror at the prospect of riding an airport escalator. Made my day.

They were in a group of five, the three women and two men. The third woman let the other two ladies step on with giggles, gathering their skirts and holding each other in the descent. The men joined them, but without the giggling.

The third woman’s scarf was beige with flowers. She refused to join the others on the downward slope, moving out of the way of other travelers and eyeing the nearby up-escalator. It was frozen in energy saver mode and paused. She briefly considered just taking those stairs. One of the men yelled–husband-like–as he rolled on ahead. The other man, perhaps her grown son, hiked up the down escalator to save her from herself. He let…