The Stranded Skateboarder, a Travel Story - Acts Of Kindness Challenge

Just came across @rebeccaryan and @natureofbeing's "Random Acts of Kindness Challenge," so I thought I'd take a quick sidetrack to share a true story from some years back. Not sure I can tell it in only 200 words, mind you... 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Dallas...

Circa 2003, I found myself on the way back to Austin, Texas after a summer vacation in my native Denmark. The journey involved a quick "hop" from Copenhagen to Amsterdam, where I was going to catch a flight to Dallas; then another short hop to Austin. 

All was going well as we boarded the super full American Airlines flight in Amsterdam. But then we sat at the gate for half an hour; then a hour. Then the captain made an announcement that there were some "hydraulic issues" that were being checked out by technicians and that we "should be underway" within another half hour.

Another hour passed, with only another brief "they are working on the problem" announcement.

After yet another hour, there was a new announcement that the aircraft could not be cleared for flight, and everyone would be put up in a local hotel till the same time next day when another aircraft would be available.

In due course, 320 people were bused to a nearby airport hotel... long lines ensued as so many people were trying to get their rooms all at once, even with six hotel agents working. Even though we didn't have to pay, we still had to be checked in, identified and put a room deposit in.

I was standing next to a young guy-- maybe 16-17-- carrying just a small backpack. He looked tired, and "roadworn"... and worried. In overhearing a bit of conversation between him and the late-20's woman next to him, his worry was that he had neither a credit card, nor 100 Euros in cash for the refundable deposit. As it turned out, neither did the Army wife he was having the conversation with.

I "inserted" myself in their conversation and suggested the hotel still might waive the deposit since the airline was paying, anyway. They held my place in line as I went to a side office to ask a concierge what happens if you don't have cash OR credit card. 

"Sorry, hotel policy. We have to have that, for security purposes."

Keep in mind this was not so long after 9/11.

A little more conversation turned out that the kid had been to a skateboarding event in India. As we stood in that hotel lobby, he'd already taken a 17-hour train journey from God-knows-where to Mumbai, followed by a ten hour flight from Mumbai to Amsterdam, and all he really wanted was to get home to Denton, Texas to SLEEP. All he had left was about $13 and a handful of Rupees. 

The Army wife had been visiting her husband at Ramstein Air base in Germany and had about $40 cash and her credit card had been stolen.

For no particular reason-- other than perhaps because I've been on more cancelled flights in more countries than I care to think about-- I reached in my pocket and determined I had 210 Euros left from my own trip. Without thinking further, I handed the kid 100 Euros and said "Don't worry about it. Get some sleep." I paused for a second... then handed the other 100 to the Army wife "You too." They both started to say things to which I answered "Someday, pay it forward."

Thankfully, my credit card "cleared" when it was my turn... or I would have been up the proverbial creek. I think I might have had $103 left on it.

But to finish this story on a high note... and to show there's good in the world... both the skateboarder and the Army wife found me at the airport terminal the next day to give me back 100 Euros each.

That... I had not expected.

The above is just a very small excerpt from a very strange and mystical 48-hour journey I may write about, someday. 

How About YOU? Do you have any interesting "random acts of kindness" in your life? Would you consider being part of the challenge-- and help spread some positive vibes around Steemit? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!

To learn more about the "Random Acts of Kindness Challenge," I encourage you to either visit @rebeccaryan's explanatory post or @natureofbeing's post about the challenge.

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20170802 14:13 PDT