While working outside the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX, I saw my dad walking toward me with a coworker.

“What a beautiful thing to work together as father and son!” the coworker said when she passed me.

I chuckled and nodded in agreement and then looked at my dad.

A kind smile overtook him. It’s an expression I’m not used to seeing.

Since I started working with SmarteCarte at LAX in June 2022, I have met many of my dad’s coworkers and friends. He has worked at the airport for over 35 years with multiple parking companies and now collecting luggage carts around the airport for SmartCarte.

Many coworkers were excited to finally see me in person and asked for updates on my academic journey.

I was stunned. My dad had been keeping his coworkers and friends at the airport informed about my schoolwork and career ambitions.

Conversations with my dad about school and my personal life did not happen often since we didn’t talk much with each other before I started working at the airport.

The last three years working at LAX have allowed me to see my dad from a different perspective.

Growing up, I did not interact with my dad often. Most of his time was occupied at work during the week.

Most memories I have as a kid include my mom and friends.

Very few include my dad.

There were a couple of Saturday mornings when I was in middle school where he took me to work with him.

I saw glimpses of his work life. From his interactions with coworkers, I noticed he was a different person.

He greeted everyone with enthusiasm. People would reply back and talk if they had time.

Whenever my dad comes home, he greets me and asks how my day was. I would give a short meaningless response.

I consider myself to be introverted and reserved. This seems to be inherited from my dad who behaves the same.

I got used to not having anything more than basic conversations with my dad.

The rare days when we were both home for a whole day came on weekends.

On these days, he would run errands and leave the house while I played video games or went over to a friend’s house.

My mom took it upon herself to do activities with me, like going to the park or working on fun projects together.

Moments when my dad and I were around each other came when we sat together in the living room to watch a sports game.

Sports was one thing we had in common. We would have conversations mid-game about plays, players and argue about foul calls made by a referee.

When the game was over, so was our brief connection. I went about my day and he rested for the next work day.

Our inconsistent communication continued until I graduated high school in 2014 and moved to live on campus at Cal Poly Pomona for an academic calendar year. Then I took a break from school, until 2017 when I enrolled at El Camino College.

During that time I continued to not have much interaction or conversations with my dad.

In the summer of 2022, my dad came home from work and instead of our usual short greeting, he asked if I wanted to go work with him.

A position with SmarteCarte at LAX had opened up, I needed the financial income, so I applied. Later, I realized I was going to relive my days as a kid going with my dad to work.

Sons working with their fathers at the same job isn’t uncommon.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau survey paper written by Martha Stinson and Christopher Wignall, they found 8.2% of sons work with the same employer as their father, after using a 2010 U.S. Census Bureau survey and IRS W-2 forms.

During my first days on the job, he helped train me. With ease, my dad was pulling 15 to 20 luggage carts with a rope and putting them in designated areas for collection by other coworkers.

I was impressed with his physical prowess and nervous about having to replicate it in a busy airport environment.

Our job requires us to wear safety vests which attracts passengers who are struggling to find their way around LAX.

As people would come to us for help I guided them to my dad. He answered every question from getting an Uber, rental car or catching a connecting flight and satisfied every distressed passenger.

I was attentive to every word he said to learn the information myself and saw how he was glad and supportive to people who needed help.

After a couple of weeks, I started to have the same interactions with passengers and frustrations on the job I would hear my dad mention over time.

I spoke to him about dealing with a confused passenger who had no idea where to go to catch their connecting flight at another terminal.

I was having more than a basic conversation with my dad. We were discussing things on the job going back and forth sharing stories.

When our shifts were over and we prepared to go back home, conversations about work would transition to other topics in life and society.

On my non-work work days we revert back to the simple “hellos” and “how was your day” interactions whenever he peeks his head through my bedroom door when he gets home.

However, working alongside my dad at LAX has made me appreciate the times we delve into longer conversations and interactions together. It feels like I am making up for lost time of getting to be around him.

Just like LAX passengers who ask him for help and guidance at the airport, I am starting to break through our comfort zone more often by approaching him to begin conversations outside of work in order to be more familiar with him.

I want to continue transitioning my current coworker connection I have with him, to a father-son relationship I feel I have missed out on.