31 August—As if to remind us of all that is simple and good, life provides chance encounters, moments for kindness and compassion that we can seize, or ignore and let slip away—some of them mundane, others surprising. I recently had just such an experience in the most unlikely of places, a busy American airport.
My hand was full of soap as I sidled sideways in search of a functioning faucet with which to wash and rinse. Two sinks down the line I waved my hand beneath a sensor and water finally flowed. It was then I heard the unmistakable sound of a woman crying.
“My brother died yesterday and I just missed his funeral,” the startling words penetrated the routine sounds of a woman’s restroom in Dallas Fort Worth Airport. The flushing of toilets, the running of water, the slamming of stall doors.
I glanced up and located the speaker. She was 40, or maybe 50, it was impossible to tell, short, slender, and blond. Her pretty face was red and tear streaked, her body shook with sobs. She spoke to another darker-haired, darker-skinned woman.
“The plane was late. We’re Jewish. We burry our dead right away,” she said by way of explanation.
“I’m Muslim,” the other woman said. “We also bury our dead within the first day after death.”
The mirror neurons in my brain responsible for empathy where firing madly in almost instant response to the woman’s distress and I felt myself close to tears as I imagined how I’d feel in similar circumstances. I dried my hands and approached, tossing the soggy paper towel into a bin.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking into her eyes. “I’m so so sorry. May I give you a hug?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I’d like that.” And maybe, as I think about it now, I was the one who needed a hug, or we both did, feeling shocked by the sad situation, seeking the simple comfort of human contact.
I wrapped my arms around her shaking body and for the briefest of moments held her close. “There are so many kind people,” she said when I let her go.
As I walked away headed to gate B27 and a flight to New York City, the Muslim woman—displaying calm dignity, attentive kindness, and remarkable presence of mind—continued to comfort the other woman, a total stranger, a Jewish sister. “What your brother needs now are prayers.”
Three women in a bathroom, one Jewish, another Muslim, the third Buddhist, brought together by chance and the shared experience of human suffering and kindness. These are truths more profound than any political or religious differences or doctrines. This is my prayer for the world.
There is a reason why mankind is a social animal. You have just illuminated the reason.
What a compassionate story, Cara! You satisfied a human need of Understanding, Empathy, and Compassion for a fellow human being in mourning and "frustration" (the plane delay), as the hug did her a world of good in her time of needed comfort that another soul cared about her plight.
Jewish, Buddhist, Moslem, Hindu, Christian, Atheism, Agnosticism, mysticism, and any other religious or philosophical belief system, ,and ALL OF US beings on this planet have the same basic needs: good health, a roof over our head, food on the table, clothes on our back, a circle of family and close friends, and financial security until the final exhalation on our journey in "making the rounds."
It's our man-made systems of greed, money and power which causes exploitation and suffering with endless "wars" for the benefit of the few who profit from it.
Thank you for sharing the airport story with us.