Life is bursting with little acts of kindness
This past week I was giving a talk at the Lufthansa Aviation Training conference run by awesome thought leader, Martin Egerth, and during my travels I had an experience that reminded me that people are wonderful.
We spend a lot of our time focusing on the negative aspects of humans. We hear all about nasty comments, terrible deeds, horrible wars, and volatile leaders. What we tend to hear less about are the small daily deeds done in service to others all over this planet. So here’s something to add a little balance to the narrative.
I’ll preface this by setting a little context…
The conference is in Vienna, a beautiful city in an amazing country. It is the third country in my EU speaking tour. The week before, I was in London, got caught in a rainstorm and, you guessed it, caught a cold. I carried the cold to Paris and then on to Vienna.
Now this conference for Lufthansa is a big deal. I‘m the opening keynote and by the time I get to Vienna, I have almost completely lost my voice. Nonetheless I power through my talk and spend time with amazing people and other speakers who range from an FBI OD Psychologist speaking about change, to the head of Mission Operations at the European Space Operations Centre, to the founder of Like Literally — a woman who has been head of L&D at L’Oreal, Expedia, and Apple.
It is on my trip home that the adventure beings — I leave my laptop at airport security in Vienna. I travel all the time and this is the first time I’ve ever left anything at the security counter. My cold-addled brain has finally failed me.
The problem is I don’t realize it’s missing until I get to Frankfurt and am just opening my backpack to pass through security when I noticed the empty space…Where is my laptop? Holy crap! I wrack my brain…did I leave it on the flight? Did it fall out of my backpack in the overhead bin? I have no idea where it is. Then I start running through everything that’s on the computer. When did I last back it up? Have I lost all my project work, my latest files? Did I set a secure enough password on it? Oh boy.
I am definitely distressed, yet surprisingly calm. I proceed through the airport, and try not to flog myself over my lack of digital organization. I run through my options in my head, and try to put them all aside until I get home and can think clearly for a minute.
By the time I’m ready to board my flight though, I’m fit to burst. I have to tell somebody. I approach my flight attendant. She’s super friendly and she empathizes with me and that makes me feel a little better. I‘m turning away, ready to carry my troubles back to my seat with me when she says,
– Let me talk to the purser, to see if we can help.
— Really?!
I cannot believe my ears.
Five minutes later the purser shows up and squats down by my seat. I tell him the whole sorry tale. At this point I am almost certain I left the laptop at security in Vienna, and before the purser turned up I had been scrambling to fill out a lost and found form on my phone. I don’t have roaming capabilities in Frankfurt, so I’m relying on the Wifi. The purser lets me know that they’re currently experiencing difficulties in that area, and I take the news as calmly as I can. Somehow, my panic has seeped through and my palms are sweating.
But I panicked too soon, because the next words to come out of this wonderful purser’s mouth were:
– Would you like me to reach out to the airport in Vienna on your behalf?
– Really? YES!
I describe the computer too him; a silver Mac Book with a rocket ship sticker on the front that has my company name Up Your Creative Genius.
30 minutes later we are airborne and I am sitting back in my chair, trying to figure out how soon I can make it to a store to get a new computer, and wondering how many millions of dollars a new Mac Book is these days. The purser re-appears with a kind look on his face, and I’m sure he’s preparing me for the worst. My laptop is gone. Taken by a band of airport thugs who broke into it and stole my identity. There are currently no fewer than 18 Patti Dobrowolski’s boarding flights from Vienna, and my bank account has been drained. Also, buried deep in my bank’s terms & conditions is a policy that says if you are foolish enough to leave your laptop at airport security, your fraud protection is void. This is it. I am finished.
– I checked with my colleagues and good news. They have found your laptop! It is safe and in their care.
…omg.
He hands me a phone number and email address to follow up with once I’m back on the ground, and I’m so grateful I want to jump up and hug him. However, with the firm belief that this is not the time to be escorted from the plane for jumping the purser, I satisfy myself by asking for his card. This kind of customer service needs to be rewarded with a letter to his, and the flight attendant’s managers.
And so, finally calm and with perfectly dry palms, I settle in for a long nap.
I wake up as the flight descends with the sudden realization that I have no idea how one frees a laptop from lost & found in Vienna, and gets it to Denver. I also remember with a jolt that I have an important speech to finish, and that the only copy it sitting in the Documents folder on that laptop. I make a solemn pledge to actually start using Google Drive. Then out comes my phone, and I clutch it impatiently as I wait for the plane to land, and the captain to tell me I can turn my phone on. I bang out a quick note, and send it to the address the purser gave me.
I get home and fall into bed for a long sleep, but of course my body has other ideas and awakens me at 2AM. I check my e-mail. The Vienna airport has been in touch! They have my laptop, but they won’t ship it back. I need to organize that myself. There is a shipping counter at the airport that can help, but they’re closed until after the weekend. Oh and also they’re charging me €25 for every day the my computer remains in their possession. Cool.
I turn to my cell, and vent in a long text message to my London-based friend and colleague, Pete Cohen. His reply comes immediately.
– I have a niece in Vienna, shall I see if she can help?
– Yes please!
Cohen’s niece agrees to fetch the laptop and make sure it is returned home to me. Less than 6 hours later, I receive the below message. It’s safe, and on it’s way!
And so here I sit now, typing on my laptop, definitely using Google Docs.
Not only has this mis-adventure taught me lessons in digital workflow and attention, it’s taught me lessons in humanity. Every time I asked for help, it came readily and easily. I’ve been reminded that, at our core, we’re all human, we all want to connect, and the vast majority of us are willing to support one another.
These small simple steps by Lufthansa’s staff, my good friend, and his niece made all the difference in the world to me. The fact that I have just worked for Lufthansa’s aviation training seems no accident. I heard plenty about their approach to customer service while I was in Vienna, and then I got to experience it firsthand. You can bet when I fly abroad, Lufthansa will be at the top of my list of airlines. (And I promise I am not being paid to say this!)
Acting with kindness in the world has manifold benefits. From a business stand-point, it keeps customers coming back, and from a personal standpoint it lights up those around you, and reminds them to act kindly in turn. Your service adds a special touch to every moment you engage with another person on the planet. So be kind, and seek to recognize and acknowledge kindness in others.
