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Travel can reveal who we are on the

inside

BySuhanto Kastaredja

SMA Negeri 14

Surabaya

One Friday evening Paul Thomas, a middle-aged tall man, was at Dallas airport. He was bornin a small town, about 120 km from Dallas, called Elberton. He lived there till his senior high

school. He continued his study at Dallas University and graduated in 1985. Now he lives and is

working in Atlanta.

He was planning to fly home to Atlanta. He stayed in Dallas for his business for a week.However, his flight was postponed until 10PM, then 11 PM, then 1AM Saturday morning and he

was beginning to fear he couldnt fly to Atlanta.

Other passengers began getting ugly about the inconvenience, but Paul began telling jokes about

it. Suddenly it seemed that the crowd split in two. The ones who were complaining congregated

to one side of the terminal and others who shared his more light-hearted approach to life moved

to my side. At around 1AM they told us that the flight might be cancelled so many folks were

booked onto a flight at 6AM - now they were really mad.

The thing that shocked him the most was a lady at her early forties, with a long blue

dress. She was the one of the worst attitudes. She was in her forties. She was accompanied by her

nephew to run her furniture business in Dallas. They were on their way home to Atlanta.

Paul was determined to be a good example, if for no one else, the lady so that he could see howhis patience might act in the difficult situation. He tried to approached and talked to her. He

offered a help.

Paul said softly," Excuse me. If you dont mind, lets talk about you problem to get the

solution." Paul smiled. The lady lifted her head and replied, "Thank you. But its none of your

business." She turned over and left Paul. She walked to the corner, pulled the chair and sat on it."

Paul was not surprised to accept such an unfriendly reply.

Then a young man came to him, smiled and said, "Sorry, sir. Im Bill. She is my aunt,

Mrs. Caroline Herbert. Paul answered," Oh, its OK. Its OK, Bill. Im Paul Thomas. Nice to

meet you"

"Its nice to meet you too. Hem.. She is very disappointed with flight delay. She loses atransaction," he continued

Paul nodded and said," I see. She loses a lot of money, doesnt she?"

Bill answered," Yes, she does, Mr. Thomas."

Paul gave his opinion," Well . Sometimes, we get good lessons from hard condition we face.

And if were willing to think it over, we may become light-hearted. We may accept it wisely."

Bill replied," Its rather philosophical, sir." Paul just laughed.

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He is fully committed to apply his patience in everyday of his life. He knows many people think

about profit only. And because of money, they forget the meaning of patience, the meaning of

the Power of God. In their mind there is no idea that how important it is to behave patiently or

politely. Being patient and polite makes people get Gods guidance and protection.

He had to try to be consistent with his belief however difficult the situation was. He kept

on maintaining a good attitude.The airline privately changed Pauls ticket to fly home on Sunday at no charge and even put him

in business class and thanked Paul for his attitude that made the evening much easier on them.

The problem was his luggage in Dallas waiting for his rental car with hand-controls was not

ready. So he just checked into a local hotel for a few hours before picking up his rental car in the

morning.

He drove two hours east to Elberton. The drive through the Georgia countryside was

gorgeous and plantation style homes were everywhere. He was watching on the side of the road

looking for his senior High School. He, then, remembered his teacher, Mr. Tony Clinton who

taught him the importance of being honest and patient in order to reach the happiness in life. He

used to pay great attention to the young people. He taught the young people to spread peace

wherever they were.

He drove to the local Wal-Mart and bought clothes (since my luggage was at DFW

airport). Finally he reached his hometown. , was happy to see his father and mother checked into

the pre-arranged hotel and caught up on his sleep.

The next morning he spoke to the Youth Organization of his hometown then shared his spiritual

experiences. Many folks came forward to pray and he hoped many of them were happy with

their faith. A few of the staff treated him to lunch before he drove back to the Atlanta Airport and

waited for six hours for his flight home (thankfully in business class).

Arriving at the Marriot Hotel Dallas, He was told by the receptionist that Mrs. Hebert

was sent to Dallas Health Centre. Paul looked very sad to hear the bad news. He felt he had to

visit her. He went to there by taxi. He looked for Mrs. Herberts room. Bill opened the door andvery surprised to see Paul at the door. He saw Mrs. Herbert lying on the bed and looked very

pale.

Bill said," She collapsed this morning in front of the hotel and was sent here."

Paul nodded and he asked for permission to talk to Mrs. Herbert. He came nearer to her.

Surprisingly, before Paul talked to her, she opened her eyes and said very softy," Sorry for my

being rude to you yesterday, Mr. Thomas."

"Oh, thats Okay. Thats okay," Paul said softly, too. "Just take a rest."

After apologizing to Paul Thomas, Mrs. Herbert got asleep. Paul approached Bill. Both of them

got out the room. From Bill, he knew that Mrs. Caroline Herbert really regretted being rude to

him.

"She tried to look for you but she found you nowhere. She realized that you were sokind. She was still furious over the delay so she behaved politely with you. With her anger she

could get nothing better even she became stressed and collapsed. She was hospitalized. She had

to stay here in Dallas longer. The doctor didnt let her to fly to Atlanta till Wednesday.

Bill said, "If my aunt had been patient with the delay of the flight, she wouldnt had been

hospitalized."

"Yes, I think so. Your aunt is actually a good person, an intelligent one but it seems that

she gets stressed easily when she finds a problem.

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"Youre right. So my uncle always asks me to accompany her in running her furniture

business." Bill answered..

"God still loves her. I hope shell get better soon," Pal sad.

"Thank you, sir. By the way what time would you go to the airport?"

"My flight is on 1AM tomorrow morning."

Paul drove back to the Dallas Airport and waited for six hours for my flight home (thankfully inbusiness class). I arrived home at 7AM, got a few hours of sleep and went back to workrefreshed

with the knowledge God still uses a sinner like me for His Glory.