Model Citizenship

So, I went away for the weekend; left Friday and came back Monday, to surprise my aunt for her birthday this past Saturday, May 19th. The flight to Florida (on United Airlines) was pure hell. I won’t go into that because I don’t want to focus on the negative.

The journey from Florida to Houston (on Continental), however, was another story all together. A little boy and girl, sitting 3 or 4 rows in front of me, were making a ton of noise (as is to be expected) on the plane. I didn’t really think anything of it; I only hoped that they would soon be quiet. To me, the next moment was truly remarkable. I witnessed an older gentleman (maybe in his 60’s) stand up and with a huge, genuine smile ask the mother of these 2 little ones, aged 2-4ish), if he could give them a cookie. The mother, thankfully, allowed the man to bring out a giant bag of chocolate chip cookies and let the kids pick as many as they wanted out of the bag. Needless to say, the children quieted down and the nice man chatted them up, asking questions about their trip to Disneyland. I was so taken aback by this that I began to cry.

I know, I’m a big ole sap but I can’t help it. I love to see that kind of beauty and humanity in the world and it’s so rare these days to see something like that. In today’s impatient and rude masses, I wish I could have thanked the man for renewing my faith in people but he made his way off the plane while I sat back and let everyone go before me. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll never forget it.

Now, that’s some SERIOUS model citizenship!

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Most “Not So Model” infractions can easily be corrected by the offender providing some sort of bribe to the offended. Such bribes include, but are not limited to: money, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, fine cigars, free rounds of golf, and of course, good alcohol as demonstrated by our Model Citizens in London!

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I had lunch on Andrew Jackson today - thanks to our next model citizen …When I left the house this morning for work, I had all of 2 bucks in my wallet. Hardly enough for coffee, and definitely not enough for a Friday lunch! It looked like I was going to be dining with plastic…just then, I get a call from my girlfriend - she was heading out of town and asked if I had left already (I drove her car into work). Turns out she had a $20 bill in the center console of her car that she intended to take with her. Since I was already a few miles from the house, she gave me clearance to proceed and even suggested I use the $20 for lunch (she’s good like that).

When I got to work, I took the $20 out of the center console and put it in my pocket. I walked to my building, went up the stairs, badged in, opened the door and went to my desk.

I had a lot of work to do today, so I got right to it, donning my Vision M so as not to be distracted. A few minutes after I sat down, “Model” Mike came walking through the aisle waving something above his head. Since I was acoustically engaged by Matisyahu, I couldn’t make out what Mike was saying. Then, it came to me…

I quickly checked my pocket for the 20-spot and found it was indeed missing!!! I immediately dropped the tunes, stood up and flagged Mike down. Without hesitation, I asked him if it was a $20 bill he was waving around. It was! He said he found it on the steps by the door to the building - seems when I pulled my security badge out of my pocket, old Andrew Jackson decided to go for a walk…

After asking him about the $20, Mike - without hesitation - gave the $20 back to me…

So, Mike found old Mr. Jackson on the steps and then proceeded to walk through the aisles asking if anyone had dropped him!!!! Because of Mike’s model actions, Jackson still paid for my lunch!

Thanks Mike!

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What’s worse? Distracted cell phone drivers or inconsiderate road hogs? Today I was lucky enough to come across a not so model citizen that possessed both of these great attributes. I had just pumped gas, and needed to make a right turn out of the station, into the left turn lane. Now this was a fairly busy 4 lane street, so the window of opportunity for me to make it into that left turn lane was pretty small. I was in luck however, because there were only 2 cars in the lane closest to me (but not blocking me), and the rest of the lanes were open. This would make my exit much more expedient. Unfortunately, as I got ready to pull out, a lady in a Mercedes SUV comes racing along the right lane, and stops right in front of me. Blocking me in. What’s worse, is that she was sitting there yapping on her cell phone, completely oblivious to what was going on.

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