A swift reply from Sarah Skilton, and beautiful strangers
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sarah Skilton replied to me!!
I wrote to her on her blog to bring to her attention about the review on here, and her reply was swift! I thought about keeping this private, but I wanted to show you how nice people in the world can be. All it takes is the courage to make the first move, to create opportunities for yourself. Give strangers a chance to surprise you.
Even if their response is negative or hurtful, stay polite and keep in mind that you'll probably won't need to contact the person again. Also: "how you treat others is a reflection of how see yourself"... this might be a theory on why meanies are often insecure and strike out maliciously.
Oops, I digress.
More relevant to the topic, I feel that it's super awesome that us kids these days get the opportunity for instantaneous contact with people we would never have been able to meet, face-to-face at least. I think it's astonishing how easily we overlook the power of the Internet, just because almost everyone we know has access to this wonderful resource as well. That's not to say that we should overlook the newspaper, the Yellow Pages, noticeboards, brochures etc. Information is so omnipresent that it seems like, someday, it's going to ooze out of the very air.
This makes me feel as if I don't have any excuse not to be as great as I can be, to achieve what I want to achieve. I don't think I would be doing myself justice if I shirk from hard work or effort. After all, I have it so much easier.
Therefore, no excuses! If you want to learn how to defend yourself, just spend a couple minutes finding out if there are any combat schools near you. Find out their schedule, their fees. Request an introductory session to get a feel for its environment. Don't feel obliged to be obliged to any of them! Ask a friend to tag along if you feel scared about going to a new school (entirely common). Even if the friend doesn't stay, you've already gotten over the first hurdle of showing up. That's often the scariest part.
P.S. Something crazy happened today. The other party asked me to keep it on the down low, but I can't. What did I say about being stunned by strangers?
I'm about to check in for my plane ride back home. I approach the counter, the guy greets me and I say hi back. I put my piece of luggage on the scales. BAM! 36.6kg! Damn, it didn't feel that heavy. I remember a year ago, before I took Muay Thai, where I struggled so much to lift even a 29kg bag by myself. Not that I didn't flail a bit with the present case in front of an audience of airport-goers, but, I mean, I could lift it! Amazing how martial arts has helped me.
So, the guy gives me a few options: take out some weight and leave it for someone to pick up at the airport (out, I'm too afraid of troubling anyone), throw the extra weight away (out, can I throw away anything else?! I only have approximately two large boxfuls left of worldly possessions gleaned from the same number of years living in Christchurch after days of intensive cleaning) or just pack 7 kilos into another bag and pay $128 for excess baggage (god, I could get a good set of underwear with that!) I decide to sacrifice my future underwear for the sake of lugging back valuable books-slash-notes from the yesteryears of the GCSEs. I pack the school stuff in another bag, and go back to the counter. Bags on the conveyor belt, and the guy asks me what the heck is in that extra bag. From his smile, it's probable that he doesn't see solo girls hauling 30 odd kilos in their baggage every day. "It's books, I'm a student." The guy nods and types on his gizmo. "How should I pay for the excess baggage?" I say. He doesn't answer. I figure he's pretty occupied, so I wait a few more seconds before repeating my question. A few more awkward moments while he ignores me. Then he starts moving, printing my pass and beginning to tell me about the boarding information. I sputter. "But what about..." The guy waves a dismissing hand and shakes his head. "Don't say anything." I look at him as he's telling me about my departure time and gate and I wonder what to say. What do you say? He's acting like nothing happened! Like I just spontaneously ingested the 7 kilos of extra weight! I must've seemed like a complete dolt because I had zero idea how to react.
It's the first time for me that a complete stranger has shoved me right into his capability for magnanimity. He saw the chance, and he took it. It's having a decision made for you, but in the best way possible and without any hint of wanting a scrap of thanks. This guy represents to me the potential in all mankind to be good, to be forgiving, to be hopeful. It's a good feeling, maybe even the best feeling. They say that when you help someone out, you feel even better than they do. But, man, coasting on this wave is hard to beat.
I do remember his face, but I don't think I can ever repay this airport man, specifically.
"Thank you," I get out. It's inadequate.