My Hole Weak- Pay It Forward
Flew to Nashville from Newark yesterday... I'm down here for the ALLY 400 tomorrow at Nashville Superspeedway (coverage starts at 7 PM EST on NBC) but also to promote the new bar Barstool just opened off of Broadway.
I was at the bar last night, will be there again tonight, and will be back yet again on Sunday after the race ends. It's a great spot that has a real Nashville feel, and I think the location might eventually become the premier sports bar in this fine city.
But I am not writing about the bar, I am writing about my flight down, and I am scattering this blog with GIFs of women falling down…
You'll see why in just a sec.
I was in the CLEAR line for security yesterday when an older woman (assuming 60s) suddenly fell down like a sack of potatoes right in front of me.
Airline employees rushed to her aid, so I didn’t feel the need to offer my assistance, but that didn’t stop others behind her in line to offer up their two cents…
“Don’t move her!”
“Call an ambulance!”
“Get her a wheelchair!”
And other worthless words of wisdom were uselessly tossed toward the fallen woman.
It seems that some (maybe most) people have a need to inject themselves into public emergencies that really don’t concern them… Probably the same people who rubberneck for accidents that don’t deserve any attention.
I, on the other hand, stay in my lane. If my assistance is requested, I am more than happy to lend a hand. Otherwise, I shut-the-fuck-up and keep moving.
Back to the injured broad… Amongst the dozen-or-so useless commenters, there was one person in the crowd who actually had something to offer. A young woman (assuming 30s) had asked one of the airline employees helping the downed woman, “May I skip ahead of this line to assist?… I am a doctor.”
The employees gladly lifted that retractable rope to let her through and examine the hurt woman while everyone else waited for a wheelchair.
I don’t know what happened after that because it became my turn to take my shoes off in public for no reason, so I left the injured old bird for dead.
As is the case with all of my flights, I then made it through security, grabbed $10 worth of snacks for the plane, paid $35 for them, and then headed toward my gate.
Once the boarding process began, I lined up with Group 3 to jump on this oversold flight. And before you call me "poor," I was in Group 3 because the exit row seat I paid up for was in Row 21, so I didn’t feel the need to pay up for any other accouterments.
The gate agent who had already boarded people traveling with small children, active members of the military (TYFYS), Premier members, Group 1, and Group 2 kept the people waiting to board in constant awareness that the flight was full and that at some point the crew would have to start checking larger carry-ons because overhead space was at capacity.
This caused uneasiness throughout Groups 3, 4, and 5 because nobody likes having their shit taken from them. However, I was nonplussed by the whole situation because, for the first time in FOREVER, I decided to check my bag when I first got to the airport.
My bag was bulky, it was warm in the terminal, and there was no line to use the kiosks for Bag Check, so I said, “Fuck it” and checked my heavy-ass carry-on through to my final destination.
So now I am standing in line, waiting to board, with only a small snack bag and a sweatshirt. I was maybe 2 passengers away from scanning my boarding pass when the gate agent announced they were “very close” to checking all larger carry-ons because of the aforementioned scarcity of overhead room.
Immediately, the woman directly behind me commented to her husband that she dreaded having to check her bag. So, in a moment of total magnanimity, I turned around to offer her the spot in front of me in order to increase her chances of getting one of those precious cargo holds.
When I turned, I realized for the first time the woman behind me was the same doctor who came to the aid of my fallen comrade at security. So now, what was originally going to be just a random act of kindness on my part, turned into a “pay it forward” scenario.
She and her husband slipped ahead of me with their bulky roller bags (to the chagrin of people behind them for some reason), and, LIKE CLOCKWORK, after the airline employee beeped in their boarding passes the gate agent announced, "Starting now, any carry-ons that don’t fit under the seat in front of you will be checked at the gate as you board."
The crowd behind me let out a collective groan, but the woman and her husband spent the majority of the time we had in the warm jetway thanking me profusely for my generosity. And here's the thing… I never mentioned the fact that I had seen an even kinder act performed by HER no more than 45 minutes earlier on the security line.
I suppose sometimes random acts should seem just that… Random.
Instead, I simply said, “You’re very welcome… And I am in Seat 21F AND I drink Bloody Marys… Doubles.”
The husband said, “I got you, brother." And the four of us… The old lady, the doctor couple, and I… All got to benefit from the kindness of others.
(I had 2 free Bloody Marys.)
Pay it forward when you can BUT always look out for number 1.
Enjoy your weekend, and take a report.
-Large
Rubbin' Is Racing returned after NASCAR's week off, and SPider and I sat down with Josh Berry just minutes after the announcement he will be stepping into the #4 once Harvick retires in November…
TAR
-L