I have spent this weekend traveling to Houston to fly to Pennsylvania for a family reunion with my sister Amelia and nephew Ryan. As many people know, traveling with children is a daunting task at best, let alone with a sick child. The cherry on top of all of this was that this was his first plane ride. We were not really sure how we were going to keep this rambunctious toddler entertained for a four hour flight. It is also quite the task to teach him how to act in an airport environment in order to keep him from testing the nerves of the other passengers aboard the plane and all of the people eager to board planes in the terminals within earshot. However, despite our great concerns, Ryan was close to his best behavior, which is more than can be said for a boisterous and ignorant woman at the George Bush Intercontinental airport of Houston.

After the routine of passing through security and finding the proper terminal, we were disturbed by a woman stepping up onto her soapbox to inform the three surrounding terminals that someone had stolen her son's wallet. We also learned that the wallet was found empty (no surprise there since that's what thieves do). Not only had this occurred, but she proclaimed that they were going to get the wallet dusted for fingerprints.

Bear in mind, this is a grown adult who was by all standards "old enough to know better."So, let's look at where she was wrong.

She took it upon her self to accuse every person in that terminal when there is very little chance of the perpetrator still being around. She also decided to cause a scene in a crowded airport at 5 a.m., which only allowed her son and herself to absorb the stink-eye of scores of travelers. She also set a terrible example of how to behave in a public situation for my nephew to absorb and learn from. But the final strike against her was the remark about fingerprinting because of how certain she was that it would lead to the return of her son's funds, let alone finding the guilty individual. Some people watch too much Crime Scene Investigation shows and get the notion that they know everything about police work.

Now that we can see the ways in which she was wrong, I know a witty anecdote that works well to keep me at peace in times like these. For anyone who is ever placed in this situation that I was in Friday morning, remember that it is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.