An Uncertain Inference & An Act of Kindness

As teachers, we constantly beat the drawing conclusions drum. "Remember students, you must be able to support all inferences with evidence." So what happens when we think we've made a solid inference only to find out we're wrong? What if our interpretation of the implicit clues lead us to draw a inference that is unsubstantiated? What if our own doubts cause us to question the validity of our inferences?

After spending a restful and rejuvenating weekend in Philadelphia with my husband, I left the hotel bright and early around 7:45 a.m. to catch the first leg of my flight home. Since I'd decided to travel at the last minute, there were no direct flights from DFW to PHL, so I booked a flight that included a brief layover in Minneapolis, MN. Minutes before departing Philadelphia, I received a message from Delta Airlines indicating my connecting flight had been delayed approximately one hour. "No big deal," I thought, "Gives me more time to maneuver through the airport and maybe grab a bite to eat."  With this minor set back in motion, I chose to maintain a positive outlook until I sauntered up to the gate to discover it was now a four hour delay, and my flight would not be departing until almost 6:00 p.m. One again, I tried to reframe the situation. "I'll have more time to catch up on emails and complete a few last minute items for work. This is a blessing in disguise," I reasoned in my mind.

Fast forward a few hours. I head to the gate to get in line. Disgruntled passengers are about to cause a riot, and the airline staff are doing their best to deescalate a tense situation. The flight has been canceled, and according to the attendant's announcement no one will be getting out until 7:35 a.m. the following morning. I gently saunter up to the counter awaiting my turn to speak with an agent. She's busy juggling the phone line and angry travelers, so when I finally reach the front, I give her the most empathetic look I can muster and I say, "Mam, you are handling this incredibly stressful situation like a champ. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be to talk this many people off the ledge—especially when you can't wave your magic wand and solve the weather issues around the country." With a weary smile, she punched a few numbers into her computer, and gently slid a rerouted ticket across the counter. No words were exchanged. No comments were made. I took the ticket, thanked her for her kindness, and stepped away from the gate, completely confused about the transaction that had just occurred.

I studied the new ticket, which appeared to indicate I could, in fact, catch a red-eye flight departing at 11:00 p.m. Initially, this puzzled me because the announcement I'd heard clearly stated there were no outbound planes to Dallas until the morning. I hustled as fast as my feet would take me to another terminal on the opposite end of the airport. At this point, I was still uncertain whether or not this unsuspecting Delta worker had done me a me a huge favor or screwed me out of an overnight stay in a hotel. As I maneuvered my way across the airport, I kept thinking about the power of kindness and the importance of nonverbal communication. If this woman had worked the system in my favor, I couldn't help but think it had something to do with maintaining a positive presupposition. In my heart, I knew this lady was doing this best she could. The saying, "You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar", kept coursing through my mind. Had she discreetly secured me a seat simply because I hadn't acted like an angry jerk?

Upon arriving at the new gate, I discovered about five other passengers who'd also received a mysterious ticket. We were all a bit bumfuzzled and skeptical about the possibility of getting home, and as we dialogued about our experiences with the gate agent, we realized we'd been hand selected. The common thread which tied us all together was our quiet, non-confrontational nature. Sure we were perturbed about the delay, but we maintained composure and did our best to honor the humanity of the folks who were simply trying to do their jobs. As I compose this blog, I've been privileged to get to know a few strangers from various parts of the country. They are all gentle-spirited folks, just trying to make it to their next destination.

I haven't made it on a plane home yet, but I've certainly learned an important life lesson. Sometimes it can take hours to shore up enough evidence to support an inference. Regardless of whether I catch the next flight out of here or not, I can be sure of one thing—No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.