The stranger who sojourns with you shall be as a native from among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God.
leviticus 19:34
there is no better way to encounter strangers than use public transportation. get on a plane, train or bus and you are guaranteed to meet all sorts, shapes and kinds of people.
in these moments, you can learn much about humanity. with “first class” or “business class” seating, you learn of the “haves” and the “have-nots.” as mostly a “have not,” i have ventured to find seating in the middle and the back of planes.
on planes, problematic people tend to stand out. they often try to keep the seat next to them empty. others clog up an aisle with overflowing amounts of carry-ons, bags and other items. on planes, there are individuals who are outwardly selfish and slightly disrespectful to others.
with the holiday season, two “toxic entitlement” plane passenger stories went viral. disrespect for others was perhaps brought to a new level.
the first video was of a child. the child’s custodian had the youth jumping up and down on top of the seat’s tray. the scene looked like a child was practicing for an olympic diving competition. was this child the next greg louganis? the video also shows the passenger sitting in front of the high flying act appeared to be an orthodox jew wearing a yamulke. perhaps, living in a community with many children, he had more patience than others with respect to the playground like atmosphere. in sum, the custodian succeeded in making a whole bunch of fellow customers’ trips miserable. dailymail.com (note: this is why good restaurants have crayons and coloring books readily available)
the second video was of a couple who impressively dashed onto a plane. per the daily mail, they “ran on to a plane without having their bags or boarding passes checked refused to leave because they were ‘tired’, a video claims.” dailymail.com in the end, there was a heated argument and “everyone on board being forced to get off the plane so police could intervene.” these two had no problem wasting the time of every other passenger on the plane.
these two episodes are further evidence of how society is failing. many individuals simply cannot see beyond themselves with respect to what they are doing. the ability to have compassion and empathy towards others is an integral part of a ten commandments’ based society. compassion, empathy and understanding the needs of others is critical.
be well!!
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