It is so easy to get caught up in all the craziness of the world and feel like there are more bad people than good. Watching the news and seeing tragedy after tragedy is downright depressing. Even standing in line at Starbucks and hearing the barista get yelled at when someone gets the wrong order can make you feel like there is no compassion in this world anymore. We all need a reminder that simple acts of kindness can go a long way.
This past weekend I was absolutely shocked at the kindness of strangers. I flew home to Chicago for the weekend to see my family. If you know Chicago, you know the weather has a mind of its own. Well, the day of my flight back to Lexington, Mother Nature decided that it wanted to have a blizzard in the middle of April. Normally, O'hare is prepared for the snow and ice, but three inches of snow in an hour meant that there were over 400 cancellations. My original flight was one of them.
I got through TSA security with plenty of time, unaware of the fact that my flight was canceled. After looking at the flight board and realizing that my only chance of getting back to school was to try and get on the last flight back to Lexington, I panicked. The line for American's help desk wrapped around the airport for what seemed like a mile. Every single person in that airport that had a canceled flight was in that line, angry at their luck. Realizing that my only chance to change the flight was to talk to an agent, I unknowingly got in line. As I was standing there, I called my mom to update her about the situation. The two people behind me in line heard me talk about my canceled flight to Lexington. We talked and laughed over the shared situation we were in. When we finally made our way through the line and talked to an agent, she informed us that the Lexington flight was full and the only way we could get on it was to wait on standby. At this point, it seemed very unlikely that any of us were going to get home. But, the only option was to wait and hope that someone decided to not fly.
The original takeoff time was 5:40 p.m., but with all the snow and delays, it got pushed back to 10:15 p.m. Everyone was tired and ready to get back home. When we were 10 minutes away from boarding, the agent at the desk announced that the top two people on standby would be able to get a seat. I was number three. I had already accepted the fact that I probably wasn't going to fly home that night, so it wasn't a huge shock. But, when I was about to call my mom to tell her that she would need to come to pick me up and bring me home for the night, the kind man I met in line approached me and told me that he was going to let me move up on the standby list and take his spot. He explained that although he would love to get home, he could wait another day, but I needed to get to class on Monday. I was shocked. This man just waited five hours in a gross airport to get home but instead gave up his seat to a stranger.
It truly restored my faith in humanity. As I got on the plane, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly thankful and happy. This random act of kindness is something that I will never forget. Now, this was a huge act of kindness, but it got me thinking that a simple smile or letting someone in a rush go ahead of you in line can change their day for the better. We never know what strangers are going through, so being a kind human can truly make a huge difference. After all, we are all in this together.
