A Bit of Sweetness to End Your Week

On a delayed flight into D.C., the flight attendant got on the loud speaker as we began our descent.

“Raise your hand if you’re headed on to Raleigh? Miami? Houston?”

Hands went up around the cabin. We passed the U.S. Capitol building, its female Statue of Freedom standing watch in the dusky sky.

“Ok, everyone else,” the flight attendant said, “look around: here are the fellow travelers we need to help out. Let them go ahead of you, if you can.”

We hit the tarmac in D.C., taxied to our gate. The seat belt sign went off. People stood, tucking phones into pockets and reaching for duffels, diaper bags and garment bags from the overhead compartment. A line started to form in the aisle.

But the thing I was struck by, the thing I would think about when I went to bed that night just a few blocks from the Statue of Freedom, was how many stayed seated.

In a city not known for public displays of grace, here was one - however quiet and small, but grace, still.

As the line of hurried travelers moved by, a young guy stopped at my seat. “Do you need to connect?” he asked, and gestured with his hand for me to step out ahead of him.

It was lovely phrasing; the whole plane seemed to be engaged in an act of connection.

“I’m staying in D.C.,” I said, “but many thanks.” He nodded and headed onward.

When the line of Raleigh, Houston, Miami folks had cleared, the rest of us started to make our way out. Just as I was exiting the aircraft, the flight attendant got back on the loud speaker and laid out what seems like as good an approach to life as any.

“We’ve all gotta help our fellow travelers out, don’t we?” Then she added, “Thanks for doing that today, folks. Until next time.”