Two years ago, a canadian mother named Chanel went on a plane from Florida to Philadelphia. She was very scared of the next two and a half hours; her 3-year-old daughter, Kate, suffers from autism. And flights can be potentially traumatic and full of anxiety for her.
Chanel had hoped to sit beside a patient and nice man, while watching the passengers getting on the plane. That was the moment when businessman Eric has stopped near their line. Chanel wasn’t expecting what happened afterwards.
Kate began to call Eric, a man she’s never met before, “Daddy”. She was fascinated of him, and all the time tried to communicate with him. But instead of smiling politely and ignoring the little girl, Eric put aside his work and spoke and entertained her during the entire flight.
Chanel came home and wrote a post in her blog with the title of “Dear daddy in row 16C in flight 1850 from Philadelphia”. Here’s the exciting description:
“You went and sat down with your managers case and your important documents and I already imagined Kate pouring water over your millions contract, or the house tasks, or what you had there. You could have moved uncomfortably in your chair. You could have ignored her. You could have given me “the smile” that I can’t stand because of its meaning: “teach your child to behave”. But you didn’t do any of those things. You started to talk to Kate, and you asked her questions about her turtles. She wasn’t able so much to answer your questions but she was so grounded and focused at you that she kept eye contact and attention to the details you asked her about”.
The post became viral overnight. Eric couldn’t believe his kindness act will receive so much attention. He didn’t think it was a big deal, but as Chanel said, “Sometimes the most simple things make the biggest difference”.