Even the tiniest acts of kindness can become stories we’ll look back on forever. Sometimes it starts with a ‘yes, we can pretend we’re family!’
Cape Town, South Africa (09 October 2025) – Sometimes it’s easy like a Sunday morning. We arrive at the airport on time. Don’t forget anything. Manage to breeze through the queues and slide through security without having to strip down at any measure.
Sometimes, it’s not so easy. The shuttle we booked arrives late. Ripple effects. Long queues. Running through the airport. Stress sweats. Sometimes tears. Missed flight.
It happens. But for one mom and her 8-year-old daughter, their recent drama at the airport turned out to be the most wholesome South African lesson in kindness.
In her own words, she shared the story that had us giggling and stressing in equal parts…
“Fellow South Africans… shew! I had an experience today that only a GoPro could’ve captured properly, the emotions, the chaos, the sweat, the drama – all starring me and my 8-year-old daughter,” writes Mandy Kidson.
It all started with a driver who was late. It’s really the last thing you need when you’re about to catch a flight somewhere. Nail biting begins.
“So picture this: our Uber driver is ‘3 minutes away’ (famous last words), and those 3 minutes turn into a 30-minute wait for him to arrive and a tour of Cape Town’s traffic. We finally arrive at the airport, hearts pounding,” says Mandy.
Then comes that iconic sprint to the check-in counters. The one that at least 70% of us have had to do at an airport at least once in our lives.
“We sprint to check-in, bags flying, hair everywhere, skip the queue (sorry, not sorry) the staff are angels and get us sorted. But then it stops there… THE SECURITY CHECK IN LINE… Longer than Frik and Jannie waiting for their beers at the Rugby World Cup final.”
At this point, things were looking impossible.
“I beg for help – security says no. Airline says no. They send us running across the airport to find their manager. We’re drenched, shaking, and they tell us, ‘Sorry, nothing we can do.’ The queue is now as long as Tiger Tiger on a Saturday night in 2005.”
By now, the stress sweats have properly kicked in. Both Mandy and her daughter are spinning. Desperate times called for a little South African improvisation.
“I spot two random gentlemen and go, ‘Please can we pretend we’re family?’ — nou gat ons, pappie! We’re in, the crowd parts like Moses and the Red Sea – bless every single kind human who let us through. And then, an absolute legend of a security guard at the laptop scanner saw the chaos and said, ‘Ma’am, I got you.’”
And just like that, kindness carried them over the finish line. They made it onto the plane, sweaty but smiling.
“And you know what the best part was? My daughter got to see that there are still good people in this world. That small acts of kindness, letting someone go ahead, offering help, a simple smile, can literally make someone’s day.”
It costs nothing to be lekker and let someone through.
She later told us, “We were doomed. I had to stay calm for my daughter but we were never making that flight with that queue. It’s so cute that she is telling everyone the story as a highlight of her Cape Town trip.”
Even in the madness of missed Ubers, long queues, and last-minute sprints, kindness still resides in airports. Thank goodness.
by 