The Kindness of a Stranger on the Plane

Last week, the kids went on their first ever plane ride, but something happened that I hadn’t anticipated.

They absolutely loved everything about their first time flying. Being high up in the clouds! The loudness of the plane taking off! The snacks and drinks during the flight! And we loved watching the look on their faces when the plane took off up into the air. Their eyes grew big and they couldn’t help but laugh with joy. It was definitely an experience we’ll never forget.

But something else happened that I hadn’t anticipated when thinking about their first ever plane ride.

Allan, our oldest, sat in the middle between me (window seat) and a stranger (aisle seat). She had her mask on, so I couldn’t see her entire face, and she didn’t say a word, so we didn’t get a chance to get to know each other. I didn’t think anything of it other than I hope he doesn’t bother her (she was younger and traveling alone).

Before the plane started taking off, he was picking a scab on his hand that he had gotten from a rope burn while we were at Disney’s Castaway Cay. He had played on the water ropes course so much that he ended up getting a pretty painful burn right in the middle of his palm, which might just be one of the worst places to get a boo-boo. In any event, I leaned over and told him to stop picking it because it’s never going to heal if he keeps messing with it. He agreed and stopped.

But then out of nowhere, the stranger pulls out two bandaids from her purse, quickly taps me on the arm, and hands the them to me. I could barely get out the words “thank you” I was so stunned. Allan’s eyes lit up (our kids, like all kids I assume, are obsessed with bandaids and request them at all times, even though they’ve been known to want to take them off 10 minutes later for reasons unknown to us).

I thanked her for her kindness over and over and put a bandaid on his hand while he thanked her, too. What a sweet gesture- to give someone in pain something to help comfort them, especially someone you don’t even know. I think it might be the ultimate gesture of human compassion.

As time passed, we got some water and chips from the stewardess. I could feel my eyes getting heavy, and Allan was watching a movie, so I allowed myself to drift off to sleep for a bit. I was abruptly woken up by water spilling all over the place, as Allan had accidentally knocked his water cup with his elbow. During my slumber, he switched from movies to a puzzle game, and I guess his arm hit the cup while trying to solve one of the puzzles. I told him it was okay, but for him to be more careful. This was the fourth time this week alone that he had spilled one of his drinks.

I used the little napkins we had from the cups to clean up what I could. The problem was, the water spilled both ways, including onto me and the stranger sitting next to him. She immediately got up and went to the back of the plane. I felt horrible. She was probably so annoyed with us.

Moments later, she came back with a hand full of paper towels and handed them to me as she began sopping up her pants and seat. Again, I was speechless. I thanked her so much for helping us out and apologized. She kept shaking her head no, as if to tell me “It’s okay. It’s fine.” I was so grateful to her. She had helped us two times in one hour. I couldn’t believe it.

After she cleaned everything up, she then silently helped Allan solve one of his puzzles on the game he was playing. I didn’t say anything, just sat there and watched with a smile on my face.

When we got home, I couldn’t help but think, what would happen if I showed that much kindness and generosity to complete strangers more often? Sure, I hold the door open and I try to genuinely compliment at least three people every day, but to go out of my way to help someone that I don’t even know seems, at the risk of sounding dramatic… life-changing, in a way? This woman inspired me to be a better person in the span of just an hour without even saying a word. She led with her actions. And with a mask covering half her face, I don’t even really know what's she looks like. I only know how I felt around her, and how, I’m sure, our son felt around her.

The kindness of strangers has a way of making you remember that people are good. Not all the time, because we’re human, but we’re capable of so much goodness that these small acts of kindness have the power to make someone else’s day, and in some cases, inspire them to become better people themselves.

And when that happens, they sort of don’t feel like strangers at all. They sort of just feel like a friend.