My senior pastor Crawford Loritts tells the story of driving his son Bryndan through downtown Atlanta and noticing a homeless man. Crawford told Bryndan, “Son, that is someone’s son and he deserves respect.” I thought a lot about Crawford’s words this week.
On Monday afternoon, I was flying Delta from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham to meet with a church. As I settled into seat 24A and began reading a book, a woman four rows back began to laugh very, very loudly.
If you do not know, loud people on airplanes are quite annoying. Children get a pass because they are children. But adults need to be low-key and respectful of others. People are reading, listening to or watching their electronic device, or sleeping.
As we were going through final preparations and preparing to taxi towards the runway, she continued her deafening behavior. The behavior was so unruly at least one F-bomb was now being dropped. I was hoping that once the plane became airborne her behavior would subside. Then I heard her say these words, “I got thrown off the last plane for this.” For the record, she was behind me. I do not know what “this” was but I was thinking she probably should not do it again.
Within minutes, a large man wearing a Delta red coat began walking slowly down the aisle. He said a few quiet words to her and walked back up the aisle. I figured the show was over but it was only beginning.
Approximately one minute later, he came back down the aisle and asked her to exit the airplane. As she stood up and gathered her belongings embarrassment was clearly setting in. She began lashing out at the people filming her on their cell phones and then at Delta for discriminating against terminally-ill people.
It is always painful watching people exit environments where they have embarrassed themselves and this was no different. She would walk about five rows, stop, turn around and shout more disparaging things to those in the cabin.
Once she exited the plane without incident, there were a myriad of responses. Most laughed at her. Some were angry because a late flight would make them late for meetings later in the day. Most simply continued with what they were previously doing.
Depending on my spiritual condition, I could have reacted in any of those manners. For some reason, on this day Crawford’s words went through my mind – “That is someone’s daughter and she deserves respect.”
For a woman approximately 55-60 years old to get thrown off a plane in this fashion, something has gone seriously wrong somewhere in her life. Maybe she is terminally ill. Maybe she has a mental illness. Maybe she has been rejected countless times her entire life. Maybe she has been abused or abandoned. Maybe she is carrying significant personal pain. Maybe she is simply irresponsible, lacks self-control and has deeply-rooted sin in her life.
Whatever the reason, it is not supposed to turn out like this.
This lady is someone’s daughter and deserves our respect. I felt great compassion for her. As a father, it would break my heart knowing my daughter was living a similar life and experiencing this level of pain and embarrassment.
My prayer for her is she has a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. Only He can take all her pain and turn it into joy. Only He can heal all her hurt. Only He can take her bitterness and turn it into thanksgiving. Only He can take her embarrassment and give her a healthy sense of self-esteem. Only He drop two completely different F-bombs into her life – faith and forgiveness. I pray she meets Jesus Christ.
Another sobering lesson came from the Delta captain’s response. About 20 seconds after her exit, he came over the loud speaker and I’m paraphrasing, said, “Ladies and gentleman, thank you for flying Delta today. We will be taking off in just a moment. Flight time is 52 minutes. There are sunny skies and it’s 72 degrees in Durham. I know you have many options available to you. Thank you for flying Delta today.”
In other words, the captain was communicating the show’s over. Everything is back to normal. He and the entire Delta staff were complete professionals.
I have several thoughts from this experience:
- People who celebrate their sin rather than repent of it will experience its tragic consequences.
- Everyone has a cell phone . Therefore, everything we do can be filmed.
- Our behaviors and attitudes compound over time. Whatever trajectory your life is on, you will get better or worse with age.
- Whether our actions are positive or negative, life immediately goes on without us once we are gone.
- Calm leaders bring stability and security to those they are responsible for.
And in closing, remember everyone you meet is someone’s son or daughter. Treat all people with respect.
Please click the link on the left to subscribe to this site and receive my latest FREE Ebook 969 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From The 2015 Passion, Velocity, Orange and Leadercast Conferences. The lessons contained will inspire, equip, stretch and grow you as a leader. Enjoy!!!