Kindness

I'm spending much of my weekend chaperoning my students at a Model United Nations conference. It's here in Beijing, so it's not really all that stressful, but it does mean spending some time in the meeting spaces of a hotel on the other side of town.

And *that* means being that much closer to some of my favorite restaurants. This evening, my co-chaperone agreed to hang with the kiddoes while I went off on a self-imposed burrito mission. Yes, Gentle Reader, about as close to a real, American burrito as big as your head as you can get (because the kind of burrito I'm talking about is American, not Mexican — those are good, too, but different).

However, I was heading out right at rush hour, so taxis were not to be found. A nice Asian woman started talking to me, and suddenly we were talking about U.S. cities and sky-diving and we agreed that we were going to a close-enough place to share a cab. (Actually, the Doorman suggested It, and I figured out what he was saying and agreed before she could decline on my account.)

When, 20 minutes later, a cab was finally found, we sped off into the traffic and continued to talk about food and travel. She admitted she was a flight attendant for Qatar Airlines (hence all the traveling). We talked about the size of steak in Texas, and American-style barbecues, and the giant "party size" bags of chips that are as big as her t-shirt.

She and her companion (who obviously didn't have much English because he was not joining in the talk) got out first and left the driver with more than enough money. She refused to take anything from me. "Nope," she said. "Americans are always so nice to me when I am in the United States, and now I have the chance to do something nice for you."

What can you say to that but, "Thank you."


- Do you really care this was posted using BlogPress from my iPad?

Location:Beijing, China