little bitty girl

Do you notice that sometimes we, as people are not as trusting about other people in general? And don't you find it a little sad that we tend to be so suspicious of our fellow human beings? I know, there are a lot of psychos out there and I think that is why we often react the way we do, but I think sometimes we need to go with our gut instincts.

I've been thinking a lot about an incident that happened on my flight back from Edmonton. There happened to be a quiet type of man sitting next to me. Flying on West Jet, they don't offer you free meals but you can purchase one. At some point, the gentlemen next to me decided that he was hungry and wanted a sandwich. The air attendent brought the one he requested to him early as she said it was a popular one and wanted to make sure he got it before they ran out.

He then spent about 10 minutes fumbling for money and it reminded me of the instance when Stefan was in a similar situation and a complete stranger paid for his lunch. Always being a big believer of good deeds deserving another, I offered to pay for his lunch. However, he managed to find his money on time. We were a little friendlier after that.

On the descent, he was asking where I lived and whether I liked living in a big city; he was on enroute to Halifax himself. I answered him accordingly and mentioned that I had never been to Halifax and heard it was quite beautiful. He then offered to email me places to visit and just as I was about to give him my email, I balked and thought to myself, "What if he's insane?" So, I said no, politely and he just shrugged.

He then went on to talk about how he loved raising his family in Halifax and I felt so sorry that I thought so badly about him, even for the very brief moment. My gut instinct had told me he was just a friendly person and my head told me to think twice. It was a very sobering thought that I, had in my own way become "citified." Growing up in a smaller place, I had always been determined to keep that small town friendlines despite living in a larger setting. The weird thing is what that man offered was totally something I would have done myself.

So the next time, I meet someone and my gut tells me that they're not really mad, I think I should listen.