I listened.
She continued.
"Then she said her dad gives money to the school."
For several seconds, I was quiet.
Then I asked, "What did the coach do?"
Olivia smiled.
"He benched her anyway."
I laughed.
"Good."
She grinned.
Then became serious.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Are rich people allowed to be mean if they pay enough?"
The question struck me harder than she probably realized.
I thought about the complaint files.
The managers.
The employees.
The passengers who had been asked to move because someone wealthier objected to them.
Then I looked directly at my daughter.
"No."
She nodded.
"Okay."
I continued.
"Money can buy services. It can't buy permission to treat people badly."
Olivia smiled.
Then stood.
"Good. Because I think that's stupid."
I laughed.
"Me too."
She walked toward the door.
Then turned.
"Can we make cookies later?"
I looked toward the stack of files.
For a moment, I was tempted to say tomorrow.
Then I remembered why I was doing this work.
"Absolutely."
She smiled.
And as she left, I realized my daughter had summarized the principle behind Meridian Crown more clearly than some of our senior executives.
The idea for the unannounced flight came from Catherine.
We were reviewing employee reports late one evening when she closed her laptop.
"Adrian, we need to understand what ordinary passengers actually experience."
I looked up.
"That's what the review is for."
She nodded.
"But interviews and reports only show what people remember or choose to describe."
I waited.
She continued.
"We should examine the process from booking through arrival."
I leaned back.
"You mean have independent assessors travel?"
"That would help."
She hesitated.
"And perhaps you should take a flight yourself without the usual executive arrangements."
I looked at her.
She smiled slightly.
"Don't look so offended."
I laughed.
"I'm not."
She continued.
"Every time you travel, someone alerts the terminal. The crew receives your name. The concierge manager prepares your preferred arrangements. Everybody knows the owner is coming."
I nodded.
"That's normal."
"Exactly."
She leaned forward.