Be That Person

I just got home this week from an international trip. I flew from London to Chicago on an 8-hour journey in economy seats. The flight was full of young families who likely didn't start their day in London, making it at least their second flight of the day. We were all exhausted.

A family across the aisle and up one row from me had a baby and a toddler. The baby was cranky and fussy but had finally fallen asleep on her dad’s lap. When the meal service arrived, the dad was handed a full tray of food. I watched him try to lower the tray in front of him three times, each time hoping it would land just above the baby's body. But there was no way of doing it without waking the sleeping child.

He then tried to balance the tray in one hand, holding it in the air to avoid disturbing the baby. He attempted to handle the food and eat with his right hand but was not successful. I knew he was tired and I imagined he was hungry. Finally, I tapped him on the shoulder and motioned that I would hold his tray so he could take an item off at a time. We didn’t speak the same language, so charades were in order. He accepted, was able to eat his meal, and the baby remained asleep. Success.

Seven hours later, we landed in Chicago only to find out our delay had caused most of the passengers on the plane to miss their connecting flights. We were all standing in line to learn our fate, and as you can imagine, no one was joyful.

As I stood in line, I got a tap on my shoulder and was met by an elderly woman who was in the same situation as the rest of us, but for some reason, she was smiling. She said to me, "I witnessed your kindness to that father and baby and wanted to just say thank you."

Wow. She was thinking of others when the rest of us were concerned only about ourselves. I didn't see my act as kind, perhaps more necessary. I mean, who wants to see someone struggle, and we certainly didn't want that baby to wake up crying. But what she did was change my perspective. Instead of focusing on the negative, I started to pay attention to all the helpers around me. People were sharing information about airlines, and the airline staff were working quickly to get people rebooked or to a hotel.

Be that person. Give out the compliment. Notice the good. Smile.