Doing the Right Thing

I think most of us have been taught some variation of being kind to others — the "Golden Rule" — or the importance of "doing the right thing" but how many people actually live by those words?

And what is the right thing, anyway? And who is it the right thing for?

Many years ago, I would quite often be flying between Portland, OR and Austin, TX for business and one of the ways I would save money would be to book myself on overnight flights when going from Portland to Austin.

So one night at close to 11:00pm I was waiting for my flight in a near empty departure area... not far from a young man of maybe 17-18...who seemed a bit anxious.

Turned out his flight home to Vancouver had been cancelled, and whereas he had been booked on a different flight the following day, it meant he would be kicked out of the airport at 2:00am (at the time PDX still closed from 1:30-4:30 for cleaning and maintenance) and he had no money or a credit card for a hotel.

His other option had been the last flight with a different airline, but it would cost $120 more, which he didn't have.

Although I didn't have much money myself, it just seemed like the right thing to get him on that last flight so he could get home, so I bought him his ticket to Vancouver. For which, of course, he was super happy.

It just seemed like the right thing to do, even though I could really have used that money to pay bills and buy groceries.

It was not the only time I have helped a fellow traveler; previously I'd bought a kid a hotel room for the night at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport after our flight was canceled. He'd already been traveling for almost 48 hours from a skateboarding tournament in India and was exhausted and had no credit card or money.

Again, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time... I had just been in Denmark, myself, and was down to my last few dollars, but it seemed less about the money than about right action.

The world is a difficult place for most of us to navigate. I'm willing to bet that for every person out there who would not ever have to worry about being stranded somewhere, or paying their rent, or even their supermarket bill... there are five who DO worry from time to time, and have experienced something along the lines of my own experiences.

If we truly want to live in a better world, and to help make the world a better place, it is up to us to be the change we are looking for... and to step up and take action to help, rather than walk by and just "look the other way," like doing so will somehow make the problem go away.

I know I often get wrapped up in lamenting hardships in life, but it's the holiday season so let's remember that there are others besides ourselves who might be wishing for what we are wishing for... except their lives are in an even worse state than our own!

I'll finish this with the memory of an elderly gentleman I used to play golf with sometimes, when I was a teenager (I played golf in high school because it was a mostly solitary pastime) who once told me:

"Being kind to someone doesn't cost extra!"

Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your week!

How about you? Do you do always do right by those in genuine need, if you can? Have you ever been helped by a stranger, when you found yourself in a desperate situation? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2024.12.17 09:46 PST
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