You probably don’t even remember me. I was a tall skinny dude wedged next to the window my first (technically second, but I don’t count connecting flights as different experiences) time flying on a plane. You were… a wonderfully sweet woman. I was on my way to an anime convention. As with any time that I travel, I passed out pretty quickly. When the snack tray came by, I found out that I’d rolled my head onto your shoulder in my sleep. I apologized and folded myself so that if I passed back out, it would be against the window, but you said that it was rather sweet. Afterwords somebody asked me if we were dating, because you’d been petting my hair.
I’m not doing this to try and dig up something that happened almost a decade ago. I just wanted to say thank you. I was horribly nervous about that entire weekend, I’d just come out of a five-year relationship, and that Thursday afternoon I walked out of the airport thinking that a random stranger had been incredibly sweet to me.
I’ve never forgotten that. Ever. I travel more, and whenever I encounter an awkward young person, no matter the gender, I try to put them at ease. To at least listen to their story. I sometimes wonder who you were, what your own life was like, where you came from. But in the end, it’s better that I don’t. I’m a different person now, but you gave me a chance random encounter that helped me on all levels.
I hope you find this some day, when your own life is in turmoil or you’re having a rough spot. I hope that if you ever feel down, you can look at this and know that somewhere there’s a random stranger that you helped turn into a better person. Never think that nobody will remember you fondly — even if you’ve forgotten that act of kindness, I never have.
I wish you the best in your life.
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