Michelle: kindness is contagious

It’s 6:30 am and Michelle rocks sideways from foot to foot as if moving to a beat. She is short and matronly with a loud and clear voice, piercing through the hum of the early morning rush. Air travelers line-up, weary from a string of flight cancellations caused by inclement weather on the Eastern Seaboard. The luckiest had found a bed to spend the night in, many had crashed on an airport chair, none were where they thought they would be this morning. At the head of the line, Michelle hollers: “You don’t throw away the bone when you make stew! It’s what makes it special!” People glance up, look at each other, and return to their soliloquies.

“Keep your smile on, Michelle’s voice cuts through again, we’re going to get through this together!” Timid quiet faces cock sideways: attention-seeking is not the default position in the line-up to the U.S. Customs. Air commuters are gearing for the pat down, taking off of shoes, necklaces, opening bags, taking out laptops, phones, and e-readers, hoping they’ll remember how it all fitted in as the next passenger presses against them. Earphones get tangled and water bottles need to be discarded. Didn’t I just pay $6 for this?

Still rocking from side-to-side like a boxer in a ring, Michelle calls: “Put all your belongings in the trays! Shoes, coats, scarves, laptops. Take as many trays as you need: there’s no charge. Yet.” Like a police officer directing traffic, she points, instructs and manages. “This is a no-frown zone. Put a smile on your face and everything will work better!” Like a wave, a smile spreads across the line-up of passengers, one by one. “Anyone here for a 7:00 am departure? Come here, come to the front, nobody’s gonna miss their flights in my line, come on, this is a stress-free zone!!” Conversations between strangers liven, a man in a business suit with a poster tube offers his spot to a father traveling alone with a small child as Michelle orders: “Now don’t you go shopping on your way! You’ll see some pretty things on the other side but don’t stop, your plane is leaving!”

Soon we are processed, scanned and sent on our way, the throng of harried commuters dispersing like a torrent toward the departure gates. We don’t remember Michelle but we still have a smile on our face, a spring in our step and a kinder disposition toward our fellow men.

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