A Gift for a Sleeping Stranger at the Airport

--by neha24, posted Oct 1, 2013

I have always lived in India, and was recently traveling from Mumbai to Jaipur for work. Arriving at the airport early, I was asked to hang out in the waiting lounge where, without much else to do, I decided to check out the gift shop. As I walked around the store, I saw two American women having a nap on a recliner outside. It looked as if they had been at the airport for hours, and I felt compelled to do something to help ease their wait.

I looked around the store for a few moments, and ended up purchasing a medium-sized stuffed toy which looked like the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants (though it was orange instead of the normal yellow). I asked the owner of the shop for a note and a pen and wrote, "When you get up if this makes you smile, it would mean the world to me. Have a good trip and an awesome experience :)"

I walked quietly towards the two women and placed the toy and the note next to them. Not wanting to startle or wake them, I tried to be as slow and stealthy as possible, but in my attempt to flee the scene, one of them woke up and caught me in the act. At first when she looked at me, I worried: maybe she thinks I'm a thief! But when she looked at the soft toy and the note, she brightened up, as if this was the best thing anyone had ever done for her. "Is this for me?" she asked. I gave her a huge smile and nodded.

She was so ecstatic! For a minute, it didn't feel like we were strangers anymore. I shook hands with her, and her smile made my day. I walked away with nothing but admiration and gratitude for her, and came to feel that, even though we were from different places, she was just like me.

7140 Reads

Posted by neha24
Oct 1, 2013
Comments (13)

Readers Comments

neha24 wrote: Thankyou guys :)
@annie- yeah secretly am glad too

Storme wrote: I'll remember this the next time i'm at the airport; what a great idea! C:

AnnieJ wrote: Aww how cute! I'm kind of glad she woke up, you got to share a moment of kindness together :)

debbe530 wrote: Strangers be welcomed in a strange land. Kudos to you.

11888 wrote: What a sweet thing to do:):)

shreyansh wrote: Cute way of giving the smiles. Nice to hear that even in my country there r some people who r so kind. Nice job. Keep going. :)

shreyansh wrote: Wat a cute way of spreading smiles. I am so happy that in my country too there r some people who cares for strangers. Nice job. Keep going. :)

Mish wrote: I am glad you had that experience. Americans are like people everywhere ..... some are nice, some not. :)))))
That was a wonderful kindness act you did!
Blessed be.

Dobby wrote: What a nice thing to do for them! You made a very tiring day more bearable for them and you learned something as well. It's kinda funny how we all share the same weakness: preconceived notions about how those "other" people are. And how blessed we are when we find out those "other" people are just like us! Makes the world less scary.

neha24 wrote: @dobby - totally agreed :D

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