“Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
There is something about traveling that seems to generate acts of kindness. It may be that because many of us travel alone, we have opportunities to give and to receive kindness to help each other along the journey.
On an early morning flight today, a woman was wondering if there would be room for her carry-on bag in the overhead compartment. A gentleman motioned to the flight attendant and said that his bag was a hanging bag and that perhaps it could be moved to make room for her. The attendant thanked him, but said that they had found a place for it.
Shortly after takeoff, the gentleman pulled out the widest three-ring binder I have ever seen and poured over it for most of the flight. Sitting next to him was a scruffy young man who looked as though he had not slept or perhaps even bathed for a couple of days. Shortly before landing, the young man asked the gentleman about the binder. Expecting a reply that would cut off further questions, I was instead surprised to hear the gentleman explain – in a very kind and gracious way – that he was an attorney reviewing documents. He then asked the young man about his travels, and when he heard that the young man had just returned from Brazil for the World Cup, he very enthusiastically asked him all about it.
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