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Monday, January 25, 1999

Cost of doing things for others: priceless

I was fastening my seat belt on a flight from Cincinnati to Los Angeles and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

A flight attendant who needed three seats next to each other offered passengers a free movie or cocktail for kindly moving to another open seat which would allow a woman to sit next to her small children.


Alison Young

A cabin of 200 some passengers fell silent.

OK, so maybe if the request was a little less abrupt there would have been a more positive response. But even the minute or so in which it took passengers, myself included, to decide to move was all too long for the single mother of two who gazed hopelessly into the cabin.

As if an already fastened seat belt and a stowed carry-on was enough of a reason to avoid the reasonable request.

This scenario gave me the swift kick in which I desperately needed. It was as if I temporarily forgot that helping out others carries with it dignity and sets a precedent.

As it turned out a gracious and selfless woman changed seats twice to accommodate two different families. A wave of shame swept the cabin.

To borrow a well-stated phrase, this particular incident was in desperate need of a random act of kindness or two.


It is an extremely passive individual who assumes his or her counterparts will pick up the slack and help individuals in need, lessening his or her own part.

It is an extremely passive individual who assumes his or her counterparts will pick up the slack and help individuals in need, lessening his or her own part.

What if everyday everyone held an elevator door, let a person in on the freeway or gave up his or her place in line to benefit another? It seems this type of environment would beget nurturing which would beget a more meaningful existence.

Some may perceive the idea of giving without receiving a tangible reward as useless. While others may feel taking care of themselves as enough of a commitment.

But going out of one's way on another's behalf is one of the few things that does not cost in this world and stays with you forever. And blessed are we to be given an unending supply of kind gestures.