And I watched her add all of it up — the tired mother, the infant, the child — and arrive, visibly, at the conclusion that we were people who could be ignored.

She pulled her noise-canceling headphones back over her ears.

“I’m already comfortable,” she said, and turned back toward the window.

Chapter 4 — The Whole World Owes You

I took out our paper boarding passes and held them up, though she was not looking.

“These are our assigned seats,” I said.