My 9-year-old =
daughter and I were flying from our home in Charlotte, North Carolina, =
to spend a week with my husband in Miami, Florida. Mike had been in =
Florida for five months working for an Internet start-up company. We =
were excited about the trip because we had seen him only five times in =
five months, and Kallie missed her dad terribly.
As usual on the =
Charlotte-to-Miami flight, the plane was totally full. I had noticed a =
troop of Boy Scouts at the gate and commented to my daughter that if =
anything happened, we would be OK with all those Scouts on our flight! =
Little did I know….
Because we did not get our boarding passes =
until we arrived at the gate, Kallie and I could not get seats together =
and were separated by the aisle. That wasn’t such a big deal, except =
that Kallie was nervous about the trip and had counted on my reading to =
her the whole way. Trying to read across the aisle would be a =
challenge.
When the two passengers who shared my row boarded the =
plane, I asked if they would switch places with Kallie and me, so that =
we could be together and so that she could sit next to the window. They =
refused, saying they thought they should stay in their assigned seats. =
Meanwhile, a mother and her three children were in a panic several rows =
ahead of us. There had been a mistake in their boarding passes, the =
whole family had been split up.
The passengers in her row also =
refused to move elsewhere. The mother could hold her baby, but her =
6-year-old son and his older brother had been scattered around the =
plane. She was very concerned about the younger boy sitting with =
strangers. She was in tears, yet nobody offered to help =
her.
Suddenly the Scout leader stood up and said, "Ma’am, I =
think we can help you." He then spent five minutes rearranging his =
group so that adequate space was available for the family. The boys =
followed his directions cheerfully and without complaint, and the =
mother’s relief was obvious.
Kallie, however, was beginning to =
panic at the thought of not being next to a window or her mother. I told =
her that there wasn’t anything I could do; we would have to sit where we =
were. Amazingly, the man sitting next to the Scoutmaster (not a Scout =
himself), turned around to me and asked, "Would you and your =
daughter like our seats?" referring to himself and the Scoutmaster. =
He said he was cramped in the window seat and would really prefer the =
aisle. We traded seats and continued our trip, very much relieved to be =
together and watch the scenery from Kallie’s window seat.
Would =
that man have offered us his seat if the Scouts hadn’t done so for the =
mom and her children? I don’t know. But I do know that kindness is =
contagious, and good deeds beget good deeds!
[thanks to =
Phyllis Yearick]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"