More Runaround

As promised, I'll continue the Runaround story.

I looked forward to visiting North Carolina. My last business trip in 2010 landed me in the town of Davidson. The people acted so genuinely friendly it was hard not to become attached to it. Our office was down the street from a place called the Soda Shop. Sliced out of classic Americana, the restaurant had the charm and welcoming feel of another time. A simpler and more caring time. Such care that it became one of the primary reasons I looked forward to my return visit to Davidson.You can check it out at http://davidsonsodashop.com

 I never made it back to the Soda Shop on this trip. Huge bummer. But the memory of it will do for now. I met a woman named Cheryl at our office. I kept coming to her desk with questions about A/V equipment and printers. She took it all in stride and couldn't have been more accommodating. A few other folks popped into the conference room we were using or chatted with us in the lunch buffet line. The same openness radiated around the place.

Backing up just a bit, when I arrived at the Charlotte airport I planned on the possibility of a disappointing trip. Not from a business perspective but from a human one. I didn't think the folks I encountered last time could repeat last year's performance or I'd likely run into somebody who would burst my bubble.

I had to rent a car for a few days. The fella who typed my info in the computer searching for my reservation got things off to a rocky start. His role is primarily to interact with customers, get them assigned to a car, up-sell the gas and insurance options and then point you in the direction of the car. He didn't eat his Wheaties before work that morning and it showed. And believe me, he needed every edge he could muster because first impressions do matter.

I walked into the office and I had the choice of approaching two agents with no customer in front of them. On the left stood a 6' tall African American man with dreadlocks and a flat expression on his face. On my right was a woman I can remember nothing about aside from the downward curvature of her lips. No one greeted me.I felt as though I had interrupted them. I chose the man. He didn't smile. After my initial approach he didn't make eye contact.When you don't look into people's eyes it shouts disconnect. It also allows me to look at things longer than I might dare if someone were looking back.

So that's what I did. What I saw surprised the crap out of me. This tall well-proportioned man had the shortest fingers not connected to a child's hands I'd ever seen. We've all seen ugly hands before but this guy had blue-ribbon contenders if I ever saw them. I couldn't stop looking down at them and since he couldn't be bothered to look at me, I stared in wonder.

The wide, flattened fingernails added to the impression that the man's hands had become trapped in a machine when he was younger and stunted their growth. Anyway, the booking dragged on until he finally came to the closing instructions. Once he completed his orders, something weird happened. He smiled and started asking me questions about my stay, what the weather was like back home, etc.

I thought, "Why are you being friendly now? All I want to do is get the hell out of here." So I did.

One of the projects I was working on needed to be completed before we left NC. Teamed with a peer, we commandeered a small conference room and we furiously attacked the work. One of our department bosses kept checking in on us when he could break away from another meeting. He would pop in and curtly ask, "Solve world peace?". Without waiting for a reply he was gone again.

My return flights on Delta left Charlotte for a layover in Cincinnati and then back to Hartford. A man in his mid 40's seated across the aisle from me shamelessly stared at a college-aged female passenger. She was struggling down the aisle with a large purse and two carry-on bags. All of them looked heavy.

I frowned, aghast that she slipped past the gate agent and the flight crew "good evening-ing" everyone as we boarded. My neighbor made a groaning sound that phonetically might be spelled "mhmyeshmyes". He leapt from his seat and immediately helped her stow her bags in the overhead compartment. His eagerness to help even creeped me out. She then took the seat in front of the guy. He stretched forward to look around the seat but when he couldn't get much of a view, he settled back, defeated.

We landed in Cincinnati in under two hours. Guess who helped the young girl get all her bags down? he offered to carry her bags but she declined, her face growing flush, eyes downcast. She struggled up the aisle, past the flight crew and off the plane. She stopped at the gate to look through her bags. Her eager helper stood to the side to wait.

I moved on, spurred by hunger. I stepped onto a moving sidewalk. I stood still and felt lazy since the belt did all the work. I passed a restaurant that served Mexican food. I spied the word burrito. I drooled a little. When the moving sidewalk came to an end I doubled back for a burrito.

In the fast food style place, a disheveled looking woman bracing herself inside the frame of a walker with wheels stood at the order counter. The woman behind the counter, a friendly looking woman in her 50's waited patiently while the customer decided on her order. The woman behind the counter had an open paperback book perched on the cash register. She read a few lines while the customer stroked her chin.

I did not get impatient. The customer appeared to be both physically and mentally handicapped. Her clothes, posture and speech caused me to make this assumption. She finally ordered and took out a small purse and began fumbling through it. After about 30 seconds, the woman behind the counter said, "Ma'am, you just have a seat and we'll bring your order on over to you." She looked at a male co-worker who was preparing the food. He nodded.

"But I need to pay," she said.
"You're all set, ma'am. Just have a seat."
"What are you saying?" the customer asked. "Are you saying I don't have to pay?"

At this point the woman behind the counter looked at me. I nodded ever so slightly. She looked back at the customer and said, "You're all set."
The customer let out a "Whoop!" and put a hand to her forehead. She said, "This would never happen in Toronto! You are an angel!"

She wheeled over to a seat to wait, continuing to mutter and marvel at her good fortune. I placed my order and when my burrito was ready, took a seat where I could watch the moving sidewalk traffic. I took a few bites when a loud voice caused me to look up.

"I did one year of college and then I got pregnant. Never did go back. You stay in school no matter what, ok?" It was a TSA worker speaking. She looked about 24, blond hair pulled back in a pony tail. She was talking to the college girl from the plane who was sweating and struggling with her three bags. The TSA agent wasn't helping her because she was pushing a wheelchair. The passenger? My aisle neighbor from the plane. A smile spread across his lips, he reveled in his ride through the airport. I shook my head, immediately thinking very "Twilight Zone" thoughts.

I finished my food. It tasted fantastic. I looked at my receipt and saw the name Priscilla. I approached the counter and only saw the male worker. "Can I speak to Priscilla, please?" I asked.

The man's guard went up. I saw it in his face. He sloughed to the door to the back room and said, "Priscilla, a customer is looking after you." He waited for a moment and then came back over to me. "She'll be right out." He stayed beside me while we waited. Priscilla emerged from the back room and walked sheepishly toward me.

"Priscilla, I just wanted to tell you, to tell you both really, two things. First, my food was great. Thank you." The looked relieved. Priscilla's shoulders visibly rolled forward and she smiled displaying very white teeth.

"Second, I wanted to tell you that I feel very fortunate, honored even to have been here to see what you did for that woman. It's all I 've been able think about. Thank you."

Priscilla didn't answer with words. Her smile grew wider and she humbly titled her head down. I said goodbye and moved off toward my gate.

That's all for tonight. More to follow. Good night, friends.