Monday, May 19, 2008

Chivalry is not dead

It’s not, and I have proof that has given me a modicum of hope that humanity may not be entirely doomed. Let me preface all of this by saying, I love the movie “Love, Actually”, but I have historically found people in airports to be unpleasant and rude.

They’re not happy to have their loved ones home, but rather, inconvenienced by what air travel has turned into. People don’t like all of the security, and it makes everything very ugly.

When I got to the airport to come home, baggage claim was my first stop. What I have noticed about Baggage Claim is that people cluster around the carousel long before any bags have started coming out, and stand there, regardless.

Since my luggage is a little… colorful, I stood back from the crowd, and waited. My smaller bag popped up first, and I walked up, excused myself as I parted a couple of people and grabbed my bag. I rolled back to the sidelines and waited for my other bag to make its appearance.

When it did, the gentleman to my right said (without looking at me), that he would grab it for me.

“Thanks,” I said, “My bags are a little … colorful.”

He laughed, looked at me and said, “They match your backpack.” Looks up at my face, “And your hair.”

I smiled and said, “Sometimes things work out just that well.”

I have to admit, I was shocked. Sometimes people do nice things for other people. When was the last time you were courteous to a stranger? When was the last time a stranger was courteous to you?

I try to be courteous and polite when I can. I smile, I’m polite, I hold doors. Maybe the trend is catching on.

1 comment:

  1. I try to always let people with just a couple of items go ahead of me in grocery store lines. A couple of weeks ago, a nice man followed me around the grocery store getting things off the shelf that I was to short to reach. I guess grocery stores are my chivalry haven.

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