Today has been a surreal day. First of all, I've had a nasty cough for the last few days resulting in my voice abandoning me. I've had to conduct conference calls on Skype typing my responses while my team reads them. My flights this week have been canceled and/or delayed, including getting bumped from first class to the back of the bus. I'm tired and achy and had left my carry-on on the plane tonight which resulted in an extra hour waiting for someone to go back to the gate to pick it up.
It's been a bad week...yet, it wasn't. It occurred to me in the car ride home that I had encountered a number of unexpected acts of kindness from random strangers. The hotel was overbooked and with my flight cancelation and delay of a subsequent one, they were going to cancel my reservation. Luckily, they had the foresight to call to confirm after midnight. However, the client made the reservation so it was not under my account so it still is unclear to me how they got my brother's contact number (which may be under my account since his family oftentimes uses my account to get room upgrades and concierge lounge access) to call him while I was in the air. I happened to have been online so that his messages came through to confirm that I was en route.
It is with relief that I still had a warm bed available after getting in after 3am. Even better was when the Marriott receptionist brought up to my room decaf chamomile tea with extra honey after hearing my voice, or lack thereof. Likewise, the woman at the Centurion Lounge at DFW walked me to the coffee/tea stand/machine and introduced me to her favorite mint tea that she uses all the time when she has a sore throat. The Uber driver also dispensed all sorts of advice to sooth sore throats as he was dropping me off, including the witty remark of finding a job where I do not have to speak as much.
As I landed tonight, I received texts from a friend that I had met during my polyamory experimental stage. She had the luck of finding her soulmate last summer but have had a lot of strife as it relates to her metamour and finding a job to support her relocation to be closer to her paramour. After a bit of a long process, she finally got the job offer that I had helped connect her. She had helped me during the time over the fall with a toxic relationship although she is best friends with the other party, and it felt good to be able to return the favor (although the texting distracted me, resulting in walking out of the airport and into an Uber without my carry-on).
Today also marks the inauguration and four years of a new president that has left our country very divided. I am well aware that my parents and their generation of family and friends have helped put him there. They have always been die hard Republicans. Despite their immigrant status, they attribute the fall of communism to Ronald Reagan, and therefore, Republicans. The communists were who took their home country away from them. The conflict between that history and electing a person who has instigated such animosity towards minorities and immigrants baffles me. However, having witnessed the kindness of strangers, I am hopeful that love trumps hate.
For many reasons, today has left me speechless.
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