Back in America - July 13, 2010

It took me 25 hours of travel to get here, but as I write this post, I am back in America.

I will have much more to say tomorrow, but I wanted to leave you with my last incident of kindness from Turkey.

Anger doesn't work in airports. Still, I've seen many travelers try to get what they want with force.

This morning when I arrived to check in for my flight, I was hit by the prospect of a two-hour plus line to get my boarding pass. Hoping to find a kiosk, since I had no bags to check, I went to an information desk.

The man in front of me was playing the role of the "ugly American." For several minutes, he berated the woman at the desk. Eventually, she shut down and began to react negatively. I couldn't blame her.

When I approached the window, I was determined to create a different impression of Americans. I greeted the woman in Turkish. I asked her if she spoke English, using Turkish.

I explained that I had no baggage, but she apologized and told me I would still have to go through the line. I smiled, thanked her in Turkish and began to walk away.

Before I could take ten steps, a supervisor stopped me and sent me to a desk at the front of the line. Five minutes later, I was on my way to the gate.

As my friend Umit repeatedly told me, when we send kindness into the universe people often respond with kindness.

I'm not suggesting to use insincere displays to try to get things in life. That's odious and normally transparent. What I am suggesting is that the "ugly American" role is just that, ugly, and it creates an ugly impression of Americans.

Kindness is a lot more affective and makes life a lot more pleasant.

Sleep awaits. I will share more tomorrow.