The Candyman

"I hope it's alright if I tell you a story," this is what the flight attendant told the passengers on our flight just before take-off in Orlando yesterday. Since we had no where else to go and all electronic devices had properly stowed in the off position, we all listened. Here is her story.

"Have any of you been able to meet celebrities in random, day-to day settings? It's always fun and a little surprising isn't it? It's really neat for us flight attendants when we're able to have a well known politician, athlete, or actor on our flights. But for us, we have a different type of celebrity, people that you might not recognize or know - that we love to see on our flights. One of those "flight celebrities" is Mrs. Fields, of Mrs. Fields Cookies. We always love it when she flies with us since she brings a large box of warm cookies to share with the flight crew. Another celebrity has been popping up over the last few years, known as "The Candyman." Now until today, I had never met him, but I'd heard rumors of him from all my co-workers! But today I met him on this plane, and he brought a duffel bag full of candy bars!"

...at this point the kids sitting behind me started to get excited and I even heard a few shouts for joy from the back of the plane. The flight attendant then corrected herself...

"Oh, well he only brought enough candy bars for the flight attendants, sorry!! But I just thought I'd let you know that we have a flight celebrity on board, and I was hoping you would all give a round of applause for Patrick, in 27C!"

At this point the entire flight started clapping for Patrick the Candyman (other than a few boos from kids who wanted candy) and the man sitting next to me sank down in his seat. I was sitting in 27A, there was no one in 27B, meaning I was next to the most popular man on the plane. He was visibly very embarrassed and was not expecting to get this type of response from his gesture.

I clapped for him and then asked him the common questions one might ask:

Me: So you've been doing this a while now?
Patrick: Yeah, for the past few years - but I've never had them announce me over the speaker! I really was not wanting this kind of attention.
Me: Well, I would switch you seats, but people might not think I'm Patrick, the "Candyman."
Patrick: Yeah, its OK I guess.
Me: So do you work for a candy company?
Patrick: No, I just pick up candy bars on my way to the airport, in fact I think I'll have a few extra for my connecting flight this evening, so would you like one? I also bought an extra sandwich if you're hungry.
Me: Wow, you're too nice, I actually bought a sandwich too, but I'll take a candy bar!

After we took off, got at our "cruising altitude," Patrick ripped off his seat belt as soon as the sign told him it was OK to do so. He then got the duffel bag out of the compartment above the seat. He opened it up and placed it on the empty seat between us, allowing me to see the variety inside. Now I knew why the flight attendants loved him so much. These weren't just normal sized candy bars. He had those long packs of 10 fun size candy bars, and huge king sized bars and it was every kind of candy bar you could imagine! I picked a 10 pack of Resses Fast Break fun sized, and thanked him repeatedly.

During the flight, all the flight attendants that went by stopped to chat with Patrick, share their appreciation and then went on their way with a big smile on their face.

Now, I realize this really isn't that huge or exciting of an airplane story, I'm sure there are much more exciting adventures that you all have had on airplanes. But this experience really made me stop and think. This man truly had brightened the day of all our flight attendants, he'd made them all happy. They all smiled as they walked past and stopped to chat with us. Patrick didn't really look like he had tons of money, first he was sitting in coach with the rest of us! He didn't have a fancy briefcase, suit, shoes or cuff-links, he just wore khaki pants and a polo shirt and listened to his visibly beat up iPod during the flight.

But honestly, have any of us ever thought, "hmm, I'm going on a flight today, what could I do to make it a better experience for the crew on the plane?" I don't know about you, but I've never thought about their happiness at all - I'm just thinking about me me me! Patrick, however, took a step back, and looked outside himself, thought out of the box. He was compassionate enough to bring another piece of luggage for their happiness.

Since I'm currently "voluntarily unemployed", I have quite a bit more free time. Lately I've been doing lots of reading, lounging by the pool, and relaxing, aka me time all day. But I really think I need to step back, look around myself and look at those around me. How can I help them? How can I make their day? What could I bring to the children in my primary class or the ladies I visit teach to put a smile on their face? There is so much I could do to help out!

At this point, I really don't have a giant plan or any huge service project I'm about to begin. But I really need to change the way I think about life. Instead of what should I do for me, I need to think, what could I do to bring joy to others, make a large difference in the world. I don't have any great ideas at the moment, but I'm going to think about it, and hopefully start thinking not only compassionately, but creatively, like Patrick of 27C.