Christopher's Excellent Adventure
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 1999 -- Christopher Peregory, 12, was not having a good day. His teacher at Belle View Elementary School in Fairfax County, Va., had just sent him to the principal's office for misbehaving.
Christopher pondered his fate. The principal would not be happy to see him. He would not be happy to see the principal.
So Christopher did what boys have been doing since schools were invented. He beat a hasty retreat, escaping Belle View through a side door.
One thing led to another and before you know it, Chris had hopped the Washington Metro and was riding the rails. One of the stops was Washington Reagan National Airport.
That seemed like a good place to hang out for awhile, so Chris makes his way inside, past the ever-vigilant security guards who are supposed to make sure everyone has a ticket.
But again one thing leads to another and next thing you know, Chris sees a line of travelers. He works his way into line next to a family traveling with several kids. The line snakes along, past the gate agent at the portal, and pretty soon, everyone is taking his or her assigned seat on a TWA flight bound for St. Louis (where all TWA flights seem to go).
Once again, Chris gets lucky. He plops into an empty seat. No one asks to see his boarding pass. No one notices that this 12-year-old unaccompanied minor is ... well ... unaccompanied.
A stewardess pops up and perkily asks Chris if he would like a soft drink. After that, everything is pretty much routine. An hour or so later, Chris deplanes in St Louis, not too far from Mark Twain's Hannibal home, and realize that perhaps he has literally gone too far.
Chris calls his mom, his mom calls the school, somebody calls the police while someone else calls TWA and soon Chris is back home.
Some questions arise from this: How, within sight of the U.S. Capitol, does Chris enter a secure concourse and board his flight without ticket, luggage or a valid picture ID? TWA says it was an honest mistake and compares it to shoplifting. Also, never one to overlook a few bucks, TWA is also pondering whether or not it should try to collect the round-trip fare.
No one seems to find it odd that Fairfax County school security is apparently so lax that kids can pretty much come, or at least go, as they please, Waco and Columbine notwithstanding.
And as for Metro, although no one likes to admit it, fare beaters slip through the turnstiles regularly.
And Chris' family? They're hired a lawyer, whose comment is: "Boys will be boys." Can't argue with that.
