Day 12 & 13: Don’t Get Mad, Get Even (Kinder)

#Day12 was our final day of travel back from California. I actually REQUESTED a kindness from a stranger & was shotblocked so hard.😂 @annaleecapuano and I were assigned seats on opposite ends of the plane, so I asked her neighbor to swap seats with me. Both seats were comparable- both aisle seats, both rows full. There would have been virtually no difference for him to swap with me. He refused, citing “I’m already sitting down” as his reason to deny my charming & polite (yet desperate) request to sit with my kid. It was fine. I’m over it. 😒 There were a few no shows & the flight attendant was so friendly & helpful, he let us sit together after all. I really couldn’t understand it. I was thinking about what might prevent this person from brightening someone’s day when it would have cost him absolutely nothing?

It made me sad for him. But it also made me secretly hope a crying toddler would sit behind him and kick his seat for 5 hour. 😬I never said I was perfect.

The good thing is that I felt committed to being extra intentional about being kind while traveling. While a dozen college guys were rushing off the plane, I paused the line to help an older couple get their luggage down and get into the line. I thanked all the flight attendants, the pilot & the folks that bring up the strollers (even though my stroller days are long behind me.) I tried not to think any compliments & instead, I said them out loud.

For #day13 I sent over a little support to a stranger whose windshield was broken & was robbed. I’ve had that happen myself & I still remember when the police officer asked me the value of the purse that had been stolen & how I lied & said “$30” knowing darn well I got it at a thrift store for $6. But, I knew that it was going to be such a pain to cancel all my cards & get a new license & I guess I thought it would help knowing that somewhere, on a tiny piece of paper in a folder in a precinct basement… my purse was given fake value. So, I donated a little something in hopes that it would help her replace her stolen stuff. And also to remind her that even when bad things happen, there are still people out there who recognize her value. #adamsacts