The Kindness of a Pilot

"Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like.  More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people."

~ Dennis Prager

On a recent flight home from a business trip, I was delighted that we landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule.  It's always such a relief to get home, especially after a couple of long (although productive) days.  But once we were on the ground, the pilot shared that we would need to wait 10 minutes as the gate to which we were assigned was occupied.  The minutes -- 10 and more -- came and went, and we were still on the runway.  The pilot explained that the plane at the gate had maintenance issues, and was taking longer.  We ended up waiting more than an hour on the runway, but throughout that time, the pilot kept giving us updates and apologizing profusely for the delay.  He told us that he was making calls, trying to find another gate...  He shared both what he was doing and how he felt about our having to wait.  And in a last very kind move, he asked us if we would do him "a favor" by allowing the passengers who had connecting flights to deplane first.