Life Changing Experience

[Flysmallie]

I feel compelled to tell a story that might quite possibly shock you. But when your outlook on life is changed by one person in a very short amount of time I feel you must share that story. I realize that I never have much to say. I know that I don’t engage in many conversations. I don’t find the need for small talk. It seems pointless. Call me an introvert I don’t care. But I have to tell you this. It will be long but it won’t be small or pointless.

My job requires that I spend a bit of time traveling around the country. For those of you that don’t know, since I never talk, I am a training manager for a large company. Yes me. I know I can’t figure out how it happened either. Cruised through high school doing the only the minimum that was required, dropped out of college. And now I’m charged with training hundreds of employees. As Cousin Eddie would put it, “I don’t know”.

In these travels around the country I get the wonderful opportunity to sit next to complete strangers on airplanes. It’s awesome. (I hope you’re picking up on the sarcasm) I either sit next to somebody that wants to talk to me about nothing but everything or I sit next to what I refer to as the “Executives”. The Executives are both man and woman. And they don’t necessarily have to be a business person. But they are more important than you and everyone else. And they are always in a big hurry to get on the plane first. Which is ridiculous since it’s not going anywhere until we all get on. But they always have to be faster and better and the first for everything. That makes them the best. I hate you people. You really suck and I wish you would wake up and realize how ridiculous you all look.

You sit next to me in your little black suit acting like a rude punk. You are probably offended that I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt, sorry I didn’t get the memo from GQ. You are reading a paper on becoming a better bank executive while studying an analysis spreadsheet on your bank. I’m trying to get my phone hooked up to the wifi on the plane so I can play Clash of Clans. You think I’m below you. I think the formulas you are using in column G are wrong. Actually I know they are. Take a look at it. Yes I’m looking at what you are doing, that’s your fault. Remember it was you that wanted to look important. I’m obviously not trying. I forfeit, you win. But you are the perfect example of everything that is wrong in this world. Your opinion of me is everything but my opinion of you cannot be accepted? Why exactly is that? Or better yet, how exactly is that? Well I refuse to play the games any longer. You are grown people. What is wrong with you? Why must you be the winner all the time?

But yesterday I found a glimmer of hope. Actually it was like a spotlight in a closet. On a flight from Salt Lake City to Dallas I met one of the most beautiful people in the world. This young lady reminded me a lot of my daughters. She had the curiosity of Sophi, the big beautiful brown eyes of Tiffani and a certain cunningness that reminded me of Sydni. I don’t think it was love at first sight but over that three hours we spent together she definitely swept me off my feet. We talked about our travels and we watched the mountains out the window and tried to guess where we were at that moment. We had an amazing time. Now before anyone freaks out and thinks I’ve lost my mind let me assure you that my beautiful wife, Angel is still stuck with me.

I arrived at the Salt Lake City airport way too early. We had been moving a distribution center over the weekend so we were all exhausted. I just wanted to get on that 3 hour flight and get some sleep. So I settled into my middle seat and tried to relax. Yeah I know, a fat guy in the middle seat is no fun for me either. And just when I thought the window seat was going to be empty up walked Madi. She was young and beautiful. She was also visibly nervous and as she took her seat I noticed she was crying. I tried to comfort her as much as possible; obviously not something I’m very good at. But I did my best and finally convinced her to speak to me. Madi was 8 years old and flying as an unaccompanied minor. Her dad lives in Salt Lake City and her mom lives in Dallas. Madi has been flying by herself since she was 3 ½ years old. She is quite the traveler with her carry on packed like a pro. The only thing that ever worries Madi about flying is who she has to sit next to. Some people aren’t too nice. And for that reason I wasn’t immediately allowed into her life.

We spent the first part of the flight just making sure I was okay. I was allowed to open her drink and watch her play games on her iPad. She played some weird game with spikes and a game that closely resembled Frogger. Sometimes she would cause her character to die on purpose and then look at me to see my response. I tried not to look as if I was staring but I also could not take my eyes off her.

About 30 minutes into the flight she digs her headphones out of her bag and plugs them into her iPad. She starts searching through a list of videos. I know I’m out at this point as I figure she is going to watch a movie and drift off into her own world like I do on so many flights. But instead she hands me the headphones and wants me to watch the movie she made. So I watch the movie. She shot it in her dad’s office. It’s a horror film that includes mysterious moving chairs, bouncing balls, scissors and lots of screaming. According to Madi it’s “Terrifying!”

We looked at pictures of our families and dogs. We drew pictures. We played Tic-Tac-Toe. We played hangman. She ate mini Reese’s cups and I told her to throw the wrappers on the floor. Sorry American Airlines but it made her day.

She allowed me a glimpse into her world to reassure me of what I already knew. The grown-ups in this world suck. In her words we are both “boring” and “nut-jobs”. Why don’t we play more? Why are we so worried about everything? Why does her mom spend so much time at the gym? Why isn’t she allowed to have chocolate? Wait, what? How many of the peanut butter cups have you already had? We got her some M&M’s from the flight attendant too. Shoot me.

At some point we landed in Dallas. She asked me about the silly little cars that they drove around the planes. What are those for? Are you freaking serious! This kid has been flying by herself for all these years and nobody has explained anything to her? What is wrong with you people? So I explained what each one was for and what it did. She thought it was silly that they had to drive it home at night. I explained that they actually had their own cars and didn’t have to drive the silly ones to the grocery store. She was happy to hear that.

I helped her pack her bag back up. Made sure she had all her stuff. I told her bye and thanks for sitting next to me and letting me play. Grabbed my bag and headed off the plane. Unaccompanied minors have to wait until everyone exits before someone comes to get them. But as I turned to leave so the executives who somehow ended up sitting even further back on the plane than me would have a chance to be a winner I remembered that she told me that her birthday was coming up in two weeks. So I made all those creeps wait while I dug my wallet out of my bag and pulled out all the cash I had on me, a five dollar bill. A million dollars would have been more fitting. I kneeled down and told her Happy Birthday and gave her that money. She gave me a big hug and said, “Thank You Ronnie!” I told her I would see her later and then turned and walked away. I know I will never see her again. I’ll figure out how to deal with that eventually.

I spent the next couple of hours wandering around the airport and trying to figure out what happened. Why I was different now. In my confusion I had to integrate back into my own world. I noticed the executives, still trying to be first. First in line, first for an upgrade. Do you see my fancy electronic way of sending my boarding pass to my phone? Yep I see that. I also see that they don’t work about 50% of the time. But you are the big man on tarmac so you go…uh…..boy?? Speak loudly on your phone so everyone can hear how important you are. Force you way through the crowd to make sure you get to board the plane with the Premium status members. But I’ll tell you a little secret your highness, this plane isn’t going anywhere without us peasants and I’m buying bean burritos for everyone. Pull out your overly expensively laptop and study those spreadsheets. It doesn’t matter that they are wrong. You still look important.

Little side note about that last part. Yes I will look at your computer. That’s your problem. If you want it to be private then either make it extremely boring or turn it off. If it’s open I’m going to look at it. Especially if it’s a spreadsheet. And that spreadsheet that apparently showed growth over the last 4 years was wrong. Column G dude. It ain’t right. You’re welcome.

I don’t really care what you do. I mean I truly, honestly don’t care. But you are going to quit looking down upon everyone else and start showing them some of the respect that you think you deserve. I’m going to make sure of that. You are wasting your entire life chasing the wrong dream. Well unless becoming an overly obnoxious douchebag was your goal. If it was then you really are a winner. We had big dreams when we were kids and we have to remember that the kids today have those same kinds of dreams.

They don’t want you to be boring. Your social status is not understood by them so I’m not quite sure who you are trying to impress. They don’t want to spend all of their time cleaning their rooms. They don’t want to spend all their time trying to be the best at the game or the top of their class. I’m not sure what the meaning of life is but I do know what it isn’t. It isn’t profits. I know that profits have absolutely nothing to do with it. And before someone wants to think that I don’t understand profits please spare me the sermon. Unfortunately I know more about reading business financial statements than I care to know. It pays the bills but has nothing to do with life. Life for me has to be about these kids. My kids, your kids, all kids. Why can’t we make it better for them? Why can’t we make it better by them? And by better I don’t mean that they get the scholarship or they are at the top or the class or they chose the most impressive career path. We shouldn’t be turning them into executives. We have turned our society into a world that states only wealth equals success. Not only must you make the most money you have to have the biggest, fastest, bestest stuff you can find. But at the same time you want the biggest discounts, the free stuff, all the rewards. And that’s fine; I will not judge you as long as you take care of the kids. Are we giving them what they deserve?

“We are the music makers... and we are the dreamers of dreams.”

-Willy Wonka

Well we do make sure they are all winners. Everyone gets a trophy. That’s good right? No it is not. It only teaches them that winning has no value. And then when they grow up and they have learned by watching us they are unable to cope with all of the losses that are thrust upon them. And we teach them so many things that we never realize.

We teach them that the opinion of the few is more important than the opinion of many. They watch, they learn.

We teach them that if they want to be successful they must be wealthy, no matter the cost. They watch, they learn.

We party with our friends. They watch, they learn.

We argue over bills and finances. They watch, they learn.

We ignore them because we are too busy. They watch, they learn.

We teach them that it’s okay to combat racism by killing innocent people. They watch, they learn.

And we wonder why they become what they become.

Well I think it’s time to do things a little bit differently. It’s time we take a minute to see the world through their eyes. We need to take time to understand their dreams. And we have to get off of our butts and make some of those dreams come true. I think that if we all spend some time in the mind of a child we can be the winners that we struggle to be. I’m not sure if that is exactly what you wanted in life but the current path that most of you are on is a road to nowhere filled with bad times and tons of stress. And if you do reach your goal what has that really proven? Seriously I’m curious as to what the point is? I mean if it’s something awesome I need to know before I give up on the chase. Never mind, it’s too late.

On Monday, March 16^th I stepped on a plane knowing exactly who I was and exited as someone I don’t understand. I lost at tic-tac-toe six times in a row and couldn’t be happier. My hangman drawing was a thing of ridicule and I don’t care. My jeans and fingers were sticky because donuts are hard to hang onto. I took a moment out of my life to try to comfort a complete stranger and was rewarded beyond belief. Isn’t that worth the risk? Well then what are you waiting for.

We are the ones that can change the world. Don’t laugh it can be done. But we have to quit looking to an ignorant politician to set a new law to make it better. We already know that it doesn’t work. We have to quit demanding people lose their jobs because of their opinion. If you want to oppose their opinion then do it with your dollars and not your own opinion. Remember what they say about those. We have to quit letting business get overran for believing in what they feel is right. If it goes against what you believe in then you have the right to spend your money elsewhere or find a different job. You don’t have the right to force them to operate under your views. Where exactly has any resemblance of intelligence gone?

And beyond everything else you have to learn to dream. Not about your career or your “success”. That’s boring as Madi would say. You have to learn to dream about everything, anything, nothing. What would happen if we were stuck in those mountains? What would we do if Taylor Swift was on this plane? Could we build something so that ducks could ride on the wings?

Life is out there. It’s yours to live. You can do the responsible thing and keep on keeping on. I’m sure you will be labeled a great success in the eyes of the executives. That’s nothing to be ashamed of I guess. But I think I’ll choose a different path. I’m still trying to determine where that leads.

If you are ever on a flight between Dallas and Salt Lake City take a second to look for any unaccompanied minors. Maybe take a minute out of your important life to make sure they are comfortable. Maybe get them a snack or hold their soda while they retrieve something from their bag. Be careful though, especially if it’s a beautiful young lady with big brown eyes. She will tear your world apart and leave you trying to figure out how to piece it back together.

Thank you Madi. Go and live your life kiddo and thank you for changing mine.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I have nothing to say but congrats my friend.

That was awesome and inspiring.

[BilletHead]

Well said Ronnie,

Through the eyes of babes, We can make life complicated or simple. I am liking simple now a days,

BilletHead

[ness]

So, how was Dallas?

Seriously, Ronnie -- great, thought provoking, emotional story.

The older I get, the more I realize that real success isn't measured in bank balances, square footage, car brand, and all the other crap.

[Jeff Tief]

Might be the best story I've ever read on this forum!

[Smallieguy87]

This is probably the most awesome thing i've read in a very long time! Great story! I'm sure that little girl will always have a fond memory of that flight and what you did for her.

[KCRIVERRAT]

I think it's time to start an OAF Hall of Fame.

Great read Ronnie.

By the way... how's Kevin doing?

[ness]

I think it's time to start an OAF Hall of Fame.

Great read Ronnie.

I want in. I was nice to a kid once.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I want in. I was nice to a kid once.

I'll be the Pete Rose of the hall!

[Flysmallie]

Thank you to everyone that read this. I've never written anything like that. NO ONE has ever impacted me like that little girl. Sure my family of course. But to meet someone and spend just a few hours with them and they just destroy your life in a very good way. AND they are 8, well almost 9. No idea. But I knew I had to tell the world.

I did track down her dad. I had to tell him this story. He sat in his office and cried like a baby.