Yes, There ARE Good People Still Out There

If you’re following this blog, you may have noticed that I’ve missed the last two Mondays. The first one I missed because I was in panic mode preparing to take my first family vacation as a consultant/virtual assistant, and the second because I was on said vacation.

A Busy Vacation

My little family of four (consisting of my ten-year-old son, two-year-old daughter, hubby and myself) took a vacation RIGHT after my son got out of school and traveled to see family in the Midwest. We flew to Minneapolis, Minnesota and stayed the night. (We’re the crazy family that actually enjoys going to the Mall of America…) Then we drove to Iowa for two days for a high school graduation. From there, it was back north to Wisconsin for the hubby’s family for a few days. We ended back in Minneapolis to visit my cousin and fly back to Alaska.

Sounds like a lot, right? (Did I mention we did this all in 8 days… sigh.)

By the time we got back to the Minneapolis airport we where exhausted. After unloading a crap ton of luggage (as traveling with children usually requires) we return the rental car to terminal 1. However, we needed to be in terminal 2 to catch our flight.

Here’s where the fun begins.

Mixed Up Terminals

For those of you who haven’t been to the Minneapolis - St. Paul International Airport let me tell you this - it’s HUGE and CONFUSING! There are two terminals that aren’t connected to each other, and it requires the use of a light rail tram to get between them. This is something that we, up in Alaska, aren’t really used to. We have two sections of the Anchorage International Airport, but you can access both by foot through a long hallway.

After we returned our rental car, my family and our luggage - which looks like we should be famous by the amount we had - started waddling to the light rail tram. We thought we were heading the right way but nope. This is the first time we get lost. We end up taking an elevator that doesn’t go the right way and had to backtrack to start again from the rental cars.

Upon ushering everyone and the luggage into another elevator, we finally get to the right floor. We see the signs for the light rail tram and I breathe a little sigh of relief. We’d been wondering around for half an hour with this damn luggage and I was ready to get bags checked to lighten the load. We start down the hallway, following the signs, when two maintenance workers walk by us. Without stopping, they casually throw out that the light rail tram is out of commission, and we’ll have to get a bus at the golden ramp.

What. The. Hell.

First, it would have been great if they stopped for a second. We had no bloody idea what the golden ramp is. Second, how on earth were we going to fit in a bus! Not only did we have the four of us, we also had the following: a stroller, a carry on suitcase, a small checked bag, two monster checked bags, an over-sized purse, and two backpacks.

At this point, two things are happening: my husband and I are at each other (not our finest moment - stress will do that) and I’m about in tears. I’m tired, stressed, lost, and frustrated. As we’re standing there in a middle of the empty hallway, whispering-fighting with each other (if you’re married - you know EXACTLY what whispering-fighting is…) when a man walks up to us.

A Hero Stranger

This man, obviously getting back from traveling with his own suitcase, asks if we’re ok. We stop whispering and turn to look at this man. He’s the FIRST person all morning that bothered to stop and say anything to us when we clearly look lost.

I explain to him that we need to get to terminal 2 and the maintenance workers told us that the light rail tram was closed and we needed to take a bus. Then, my defense mechanism kicks in, and I make a joke about how I’m going to fit all of us and our luggage on a bus. The man stared at us and I felt stupid for the joke. Then, he did something completely unexpected.

He offered to drive us to terminal 2. He said that he had a car seat in his truck for his three-year-old. I look at my husband for a long minute before responding. (I watch WAY TOO MANY serial killer documentaries…) I turn to him and ask if he has room for all our luggage, and he says that he has a pick up trick with a topper on the back. Looking at my husband again, he gives me a “you decide” look. Taking a deep breath, I agreed and thanked him.

We followed this man through the hall and up the elevator to the fifth floor. The whole time I’m wondering if I just doomed myself and my family - thanks anxiety - when we get to his truck. Sure enough, there’s a car seat in it and a topper on it like he said. We loaded all the suit cases and got into the truck.

While we were driving, we chatted a bit about what we did for work, our families, and about being lost. He mentioned that terminal 2 was on his way home, and that he didn’t mind giving us a lift. He agreed that the airport was huge, and that it can get confusing quickly.

When we pulled up to the departure curb at terminal 2, my husband tried to give him money for giving us a ride. He refused it and said with a smile that helping us was payment enough.

As he drove away, I stood on the curb in awe. My brain was trying to comprehend what had happened. Here was a man who had just spent a week away from his family for work, and had been traveling for the last few hours. He could have easily given us directions to catch a bus and been home hugging his kids right now. Instead, he took the time to load up my tired family into his truck, use his gas to drive us, and genuinely refused the money because he was satisfied knowing he helped someone. There really are good people still out there.

Just Accept It

Now that I’ve got some rest, and Monday is here, I keep recalling the event. In true fashion to someone with anxiety, I keep replaying what I could have done different. I’m kicking myself for not getting his name, or giving him or phone number. We could have easily repaid the favor if they ever came to Alaska. There were so many “should-have-done” in my head that I almost forgot the blessing in this situation.

Many of us have a hard time accepting things. We struggle to accept a compliment. We struggle to accept a gift. Or, like this, we struggle to accept a giant blessing. We assume that there are strings attached or feel like we have to repay them with something. I’ve learned the hard way that, more often than not, there aren’t strings attached.

Sometimes you just have to accept it.