{"id":5810,"date":"2012-09-27T17:07:59","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T21:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joyfullyjobless.com\/blog\/?p=5810"},"modified":"2012-09-27T17:07:59","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T21:07:59","slug":"a-lesson-in-kindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joyfullyjobless.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/a-lesson-in-kindness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson in Kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Rosamund Pilcher\u2019s long, luscious novels set in England and Scotland, all sorts of relationships are explored and celebrated. In Coming Home<\/em><\/strong>, set against the background of World War II, all of her characters show consistent thoughtfulness.<\/p>\n

The smallest favors are greeted with, \u201cThank you. You are so very kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I read that, it struck me that adding that bit of applause to a simple \u201cthank you\u201d could start a positive avalanche of kindness.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, kindness nearly met its\u2019 demise when Assertiveness became the buzz word. \u201cDon\u2019t let people take advantage of you. Assert yourself!\u201d we were counseled by the assertiveness brigade.<\/p>\n

While I would never advocate being a doormat, I think the concept of assertiveness has been twisted into a dangerous perspective.<\/p>\n

Nowhere was that more apparent than one summer when I was returning from a trip to Toronto and had a short layover in Detroit. When I got to the gate for my connecting flight, there was a sign saying the flight had been delayed.<\/p>\n

Moments later, the customer service representative announced that it had been canceled.<\/p>\n

Immediately, an uproar began. Two biker guys were especially obnoxious, threatening the airline employees and shouting obscenities.<\/p>\n

The people at the counter not only had the enormous task of finding new flights for over a hundred passengers, they were also the recipients of endless verbal abuse.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019d recently spent hours in airports due to canceled and delayed flights, I found the news upsetting. I\u2019d been gone for several days and was eager to get home.<\/p>\n

When I told the couple waiting in line with me that I thought I was going to cry, the man said, \u201cOh, please don\u2019t. I can\u2019t handle tears.\u201d We all laughed and began chatting like old\u00a0buddies.<\/p>\n

Another man next to me in the line said, \u201cI\u2019m going to see if they can put me on another airline.\u201d I decided to do the same.<\/p>\n

When we finally got to the counter, he and I put down our tickets and the frazzled\u00a0young customer service woman looked up and said, \u201cAre you together?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in line so long,\u201d I told her, \u201cthat we\u2019ve gotten engaged.\u201d She smiled her first smile of the afternoon before booking me on a flight which departed six hours later than my original one.<\/p>\n

By this time, I was resigned to waiting and decided to appoint myself as the social director for all the bumped passengers. I struck up several conversations with strangers and took a 14-year-old girl under my wing.<\/p>\n

If I was stranded, there was no point in spending the time being mad and miserable. There seemed to be no shortage of opportunities to cheer people up.<\/p>\n

I actually began to enjoy myself.<\/p>\n

After the long line of people from my flight had all been rebooked, I walked back to the counter and asked the woman who had helped me forty-five minutes earlier if I could be wait listed for an earlier flight<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll see,\u201d she said as she began typing on her keyboard. \u201cThat was Winter, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

I was astonished. \u201cHow can you possibly remember my name?\u201d I asked.\u201cYou\u2019ve had so many people in this line.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugged and said, \u201cI remembered you because you were nice to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the very same moment, the biker guys were cursing the customer service representative next to her. She probably remembered them, too.<\/p>\n

Without realizing it, this woman taught me a lesson I don\u2019t ever want to forget: in dealing with other people, would you rather be remembered for being kind or cruel?<\/p>\n

The impression you leave is up to you, of course.<\/p>\n

Oh, yes, and she also bumped me up to first class reminding me that kindness is, after all, positively contagious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Rosamund Pilcher\u2019s long, luscious novels set in England and Scotland, all sorts of relationships are explored and celebrated. In Coming Home, set against the background of World War II, all of her characters show consistent thoughtfulness. The smallest favors are greeted with, \u201cThank you. You are so very kind.\u201d As I read that, it…<\/p>\n

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