The Kindness of Strangers

The light is going out on this foggy, damp day and as we move into the evening, I wonder what I've accomplished in yet another unscripted day.

I applied for several jobs online, always a time-consuming and mostly empty episode. There's rarely any response from the employer and never a named person to whom I could be in contact down the line. No, it's just like tossing crumbs off the back of a ferry. Who knows where it goes, and none of those seagulls flying close behind even bother to say thanks.

There was a trip to Midway Airport this afternoon to pick up a friend's mother who's coming in to town for Thanksgiving. I parked and went into the terminal, arriving about 25 minutes early -- plenty of time to just watch the people, some saying good-bye, some offering warm greetings upon the arrival of a loved one.

There was an older couple standing nearby, obviously waiting for someone to appear down the long hallway from which all incoming passengers must exit. He was a smiley man with wisps of white hair across his forehead, stooped over with an aging, curved spine, dressed in tan slacks and a white sweater. She was more snappy in her appearance, dark hair, modern, chic clothes and a cell phone close at hand.

At first I wondered why such an elderly couple would make the trip to the terminal rather than meet their incoming person out at the car, and I wondered if they had much to say to each other.

My thoughts were interrupted as I locked in on a young man in sweat pants and a stocking cap leaning against the wall, also watching that long hallway for an arrival. Maybe he's meeting a girlfriend, I thought. Maybe she likes those tattoos.

When I turned my attentions back to the couple, they were talking to each other and laughing. She reached up and patted down the hair at the back of his neck.

"It's just there," she said to him. "Just have them cut it there."

He said something in response and she laughed again.

"The Hair Cuttery, I tell you. It's cheap and easy," she said.

Off to my left, a little boy ran into the arms of the man in sweats. The man didn't make much fuss over the boy, but the child held him tightly around the neck. The young woman pushing a stroller with another child in it spoke to the man, but the two didn't touch, or smile or act at all happy to see each other.

The older couple, in the meantime, stood arm-in-arm, still waiting. I left them that way as I met my friend's mother and took her to claim her bags.

Bottom line? Kindness actually works in relationships, and I don't imagine it's all that hard.