It was a long, couple of days as I traveled to St. Louis to speak at an event. I arrived at the St. Louis airport ready to hunker down for a long wait for my departure home. As I went through security, my boarding pass was checked and moved on to the line to have my items x-rayed. I went straight ahead and thought that I may not be in a line. I turned to the men who checked my boarding pass and I asked the young man who seemed to be supervising if I was in the right place. He barely looked at me and said, “If you want to get somewhere, you won’t stand there.” I held my tongue, so I wouldn’t end up getting a full-body pat down and said, “Well, I just wanted to clarify.”
Rude! Ugh! I wanted to give this TSA agent a piece of my mind! How hard is it to be kind? I proceeded through security, with very nice TSA agents and when I was cleared, I asked who the young man with the red beard was. “Oh, he’s in training.” I told the nice TSA agent that he was extremely rude and that he needed to learn to treat passengers with more respect. She looked at me and said there was nothing she could do.
I wanted so badly to find a supervisor, but I didn’t. I let it go. Yes, I, Cazandra MacDonald, let it go. If you know me well, you find that a little hard to believe. I can’t stand rudeness. I believe in righting was is wrong. I believe in educating so that the next person gets the benefit of my misfortune.
Mother Teresa said, “People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.”
Ugh. Thanks, Mother Teresa…you are right. But the other part of this is that you never know what someone is dealing with. Yes, everyone is fighting a battle, right now at the very moment you read these words.
- A woman is dealing with the loss of her beloved grandmother…the grandmother her young daughter adores.
- A mom is in the hospital with her son after surgery, praying that his recovery continues to go well.
- A woman is living paycheck to paycheck in the hopes that a new job comes through.
- A young boy is contemplating suicide because he is scared to tell his parents he is gay.
Next time you are treated poorly, stop for a moment and put yourself in their shoes. Maybe they are in a bad position. Yes, no one has the right to take out their anger on you, but if we stop for a second and think about each person and the fact that they are living a life that we may never understand, if we can show compassion and love through the smallest of exchanges, then maybe our world will be a little bit better.
Today I Am Thankful For:
- Phone calls from my Julian
- Ice water
- Aisle seats
- 23% humidity
- Emery boards
