“I fly three hundred thousand miles a year with this airline,” Caldwell said.

“And we appreciate your loyalty,” the flight attendant said.

“Please step behind the blue line, sir.”

Caldwell took half a step back.

He stared at the flight attendant’s name tag.

The older couple ahead of us walked down the jet bridge.

I stepped up to the scanner with Sophie and laid our two crisp white ticket receipts on the glass.

The machine beeped twice, and a green light lit up on the podium.