Plane Kindness
The Rev. Coleman S. Glenn
(This article originally appeared in the Peace River New Church Current in Dawson
Creek, British Columbia, Canada, and also appeared on NewChurchPerspective.com. It is
reprinted with permission.)
S
ince becoming a pastor, I’ve spent a good deal of time in airplanes
and airports. You might expect that spending all that time with tired,
overcrowded, hurried individuals, I’d have seen a lot of the worst in people.
But I’ve found the opposite to be true. Sure, I’ve run into some grumpy folks in
my travels; but I’ve also seen travel bring out the best in people.
On one flight there was a passenger who didn’t have the right credit card
to pay for her meal, and the airline didn’t take cash. Seeing her trouble, the
man next to her (a complete stranger as far as I could tell) handed the flight
attendant his credit card instead, and when the woman took out cash to offer
the man, he turned it down.
Another time, when I was flying with my then-fiancée, Anne, we both had
middle seats in different parts of the plane. When the man next to me found
out we were engaged and not able to sit together, he gave up his aisle seat for
Anne’s middle seat.
What is inspiring these people to give up their seats and their money?
There was an article a few years ago in Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine
explaining the scientific, brain-chemistry reasons why doing acts of kindness
for others – even small ones in places like airplanes and airports – makes
us feel good and increases our happiness. (http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/
articles/airport-altruism) There’s something about doing something nice for
someone else that just feels good.
This article pointed out the difference between being in a plane and being
in a car. In a car, we can’t see the other people; it is all mechanical interactions.
But in a plane, we see people as people. And, for little cost, we can do something
personal that will affect another person’s life. It’s a wonderful feeling to know
that you’ve brightened a stranger’s day.
That ability to see others as people is vital in learning to love the neighbor
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