A young woman mocked my age at the airport, then spent our entire flight throwing her long hair into my face and food. She thought a 73-year-old woman couldn’t fight back. Good thing I’d made one very unusual purchase at duty-free.

all. Thanks.”

Of course she took it. In her world, everything that fell near her was hers.

But the hair was long enough to be in two places at once. The rest of her went down.

The hair stayed draped over her seat, the ends heaped on my tray.

I opened the present.

I took a generous handful. I worked it into the ends, then twenty inches up the length for good measure.

I’d meant to leave a small reminder.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Harold