Gate A-4

~ Live & Learn

naomi_shihab_nye

Gate A-4 By Naomi Shihab Nye:

Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” Well— one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing. “Help,” said the flight agent. “Talk to her . What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”

I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke haltingly. “Shu-dow-a, shu-bid-uck, habibti? Stani schway, min fadlick, shu-bit-se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the next day. I said, “No, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late, who is picking you up? Let’s call him.”

We called her son, I spoke with him in English. I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane. She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it. Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends. Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her? This all took up two hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life, patting my knee, answering questions. She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies— little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts— from her bag and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single traveler declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo— we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookie.

Then the airline broke out free apple juice and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they were covered with powdered sugar too. And I noticed my new best friend— by now we were holding hands— had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought, This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate— once the crying of confusion stopped— seemed apprehensive about any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.

This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.

Notes:

 

1,324 thoughts on “Gate A-4”

          2. You were an angel in young woman’s clothing….hope you are around somewhere when my 85 year old, forgettable, slow to move self is needing it! Thank you for helping the lady!

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      2. Dorothy, I think the world IS like this and WE are why! Humans, one and all, are not those negative and ugly stories on the internet and in newspapers. They don’t even have “human interest” stories much anymore anywhere – they’re like drops of dew in the desert. I love this story and am sharing it as this year’s Christmas story in my cards. Inspiring others to “think alike and stay different” is a real thing for me! It’s probably why I chose anthropology as my major in college. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRRRRRY CHRISTMAS!

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        2. Thank you, terrylreed, I really liked and appreciated your comments: “Think alike & stay different”- all the best to you, & hope it s mot too long a stiry in your Christmas cards. Karin

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        4. I love this story, and also the many like-minded comments. I just wanted to share that I particularly like your turn of phrase “think alike and stay different.” A friend’s FB page may even be interested in using it, if you are amenable to that (w/attribution if requested or required). The page is called “Bullying is for Losers”, originally generated to try and give and keep up the hopes/spirits of various kids who are threatened and often at risk for the “sin” of being different.

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      3. The world is like that. It took the loving response of Naomi Nye to activate it. That’s something any of us can do whenever we see the opportunity. Spread love. Respond to need. Make an effort to understand what we don’t understand.

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      2. i can’t find more “comments” room, but I”d like my story to get to . . . somebody. I was awaiting a Continental Airlines flight to Tel Aviv. Got through security with no problem. Blue eyes. White hair. U.S. passport. Behind me came an older woman in Palestinian dress. One of the officious, I mean official, security people spoke Arabic, and he grilled her for 20 minutes. i watched and waited as he went through her purse and her carry-on bag over and over, and she turned paler and paler, more and more scared. Finally, they let her through, and she sat down in the waiting area. I went and sat next to her. She didn’t speak English, but I thought perhaps she spoke French. No such luck. I asked her: “New York?” yes, she indicated. Son? No. Girl? Yes! I pulled out a photo of my grandchildren, and her eyes lit up. (I had never understood that cliché before.) She had photos of her grandchildren. “New York?” I asked again. She nodded. I shook my head in sympathy, indicating that mine were in Jerusalem — and she got tears in her eyes. We continued the conversation about grandchildren too far away for quite a long time. I hope that she went home with a slightly better picture of America. . . .

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        3. I loved this story and message so much that I shared on facebook. It turns out that one of my cousins actually sang with Naomi back in the day in San Antonio. What a lovely surprise! Naomi is the gift that keeps on giving.

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          2. I love this story too, my daughter in law wants to share with her students in school in Berrien Springs this fall; we will be looking for other stories like this one beautiful heartwarming story. Thanks, muchly.

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        4. With so much controversary going on I would like to say something to the lady who befriended the lady at the airport “anonymous” Beautiful story. Why can we NOT all be like this lady that befriended the lady in the airport. My Lord we are all God’s people and this story just touched my heart so much. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful story, we need so much more of things like this happening. We all need to feel more love for each other in all the controversary that is going on in our world now!!! Thank you so much for a lovely story!!

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    2. I have to enjoy this story over and over. At 91, I am witnessing many kindnesses from strangers, who help little ole ladies – they really aren’t strangers, just “cousins” from the many immigrants like I came from,
      All my life has been “thanking those who have helped me since childhood when I lost my mother at age 8 and dad at 14 – thanking 3 older brothers, aunts, uncles, a pastor and his wife in Norwalk, Ohio and now my 5 kids are helping me. I have always believed in helping others – it now comes back a thousand fold. Thank you, Lord.

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  11. This story makes me so happy. I just love reading a happy story about strangers coming together for a brief snapshot of time, and everyone walking away from the moment enriched by the experience. Such a lovely contrappunto to all of the sad, angry news that we’re barraged with these days, particularly with respect to anything having to do with someone from the Middle East. There are many lovely souls from that part of the world, too. Unfortunately their voices and stories are all too often lost in the barrage . Loved. This. DK.

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  23. Having the desire of immersing ourselves in the culture of others will always generate the goodwill to bridge those cultural gaps. Learning other languages is the most direct, as well as just sharing what one does know, with no expectation of return. Hopefully we all will seize such opportunities when they come our way. As long as we can communicate, there is still hope.

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    1. Yes, Bridget, it does. Your comment reminds me of:

      It’s a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and to find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘Try to be a little kinder.’

      — Aldous Huxley, quoted in The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by Pico Iyer

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  34. Pingback: “This is the world I want to live in.” | Blog on the Run: Reloaded

  40. Nice story, but obviously fiction. I don’t believe for a moment “This can happen anywhere.” 1) How did the woman get homemade cookies past security?
    2) I cannot imagine any airline giving free apple juice because a flight was delayed.

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  41. I will be researching a recipe for those cookies and making them for Christmas! I wonder what the plant was–I’m sure it could replace something really expensive sold by our friends at big pharma…

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  43. None of this could have happened if that Palestinian lady hadn’t been willing to let her emotions show! Would we? Probably not. We pull a stiff upper lip and maybe sniffle into a tissue, but there’s darned little open sharing of emotion here — we think of tears, distress, as signals of weakness and vulnerability. I think most of us would respond to this lady, or to anyone clearly in such dire straits, regardless of our ability to communicate verbally, but we so seldom trust one another enough to signal distress. Trust and response — a two-ended rope!

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    2. Thanks for the heart warming story. I have to admit that I held my breath at the beginning. Most stories about the people from the middle east involving planes and airports do not have a happy ending. I realize that I have learned to distrust and you helped me to be aware of my shortcomings. We Americans need to learn to stop and change our opinions of an entire race because of what a few have done. Many small acts of kindness like this one can be of help in doing so.

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  56. What a wonderful story! Reminds me of an unexpected delay (well over 4 hours) in Philadelphia due to thunderstorms and mechanical problems… Soon enough a group of passengers began talking and more and more joined in; by the time we boarded, we seemed like a party of friends. We all knew everyone’s stories…one woman was headed to a surprise birthday party, one young man was due at a wedding, my young son and I were returning home from visiting my daughter in Denver, another gal was visiting her cousin not far from us in upstate NY….

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  59. thank you so much for this lovely, heartwarming and soul-lifting story. How wonderful that this Palestinian woman saw that here, too, we can extend the kind of hospitality so treasured in the Middle Eastern cultures.

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    1. Great question Diane. Here’s an excerpt of a book review:

      “This small, but powerful collection of poetry and poetic prose loosely memorializes many current events including the war in the Middle East and the disappearance of the honeybees, but it also follows Nye on her personal journeys around the world.” There are other reviews at this link:

      http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honeybee-naomi-shihab-nye/1103371523?ean=9780060853907

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  67. what a wonderful uplifting story.
    We do care about each other, and wish we have no politicians on this earth to spoil our happiness. Though we are different in many ways, we are so similar in million ways.
    Thanks,
    Wahiba

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  70. Thanks – but it takes all of us that have read your story to slam it into our hearts, souls, and brains – this can be our world but WE ALL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. It is not easy. It won’t be easy. BUT it feels so good. Random acts of kindness (or whatever the phrase you like to use). It begins with YOU!

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    1. Yes, Craig, it does start with each of us…reminds me of Margaret Mead’s quote:

      “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
      ― Margaret Mead

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  72. I hope all these phone calls were on the airline’s dime lol! Seriously though, thank you for reminding us of the gifts of connecting with each other.

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  74. This was what I needed to read tonight. This is what I always believed we were when I traveled to Turkey and experienced such acceptance as a 6ft. blonde haired female holding hands and laughing with tiny wonderful women and men, eating their homemade treats by the side of the road. That was in 1983, August. I will never forget .

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  79. This story made me cry – how much better this world would be if we shared cookies instead of bullets.
    Thank you for sharing

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  80. This made my night. Just wonderful. This gracious woman spoke at my uncles funeral in 2003. At his request, she read “The Mustangs” by J. Frank Dobie.

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  86. What a beautiful experience. Good of your honoring of life here. Life can be beautiful, all ya gotta do it believe. Thanks for the cry and thanks for sharing 🙂 ❤

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  94. Thank you for this inspirational blog as I prepare to travel once more. Reaching out spontaneously to someone in need holds priceless reward.

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  97. As a global traveler, I experience this kind of lovely connection everywhere, not as often as one might expect but just wonderful. What a well-written piece. You should submit it to the ABQ Journal, or the NY Times. Seriously, well written!!

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  98. “…passed like sacrament…” What a beautiful image. I want to live in the world of Gate A4.

    I’m a baker and I pass out cupcakes…and for that moment, a conversation is spontaneous.

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      1. It has amazed me how many people have been touched by this story. We all have this warm side to us, we just don’t stand still enough to use it. We come into this world with nothing and leave the same way. Why do we hold on to something that will never be ours even if we live to be one hundred. Thank for this uplifting story. Anthony Cooke B.C. Canada.

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        1. Hi Anthony. Your amazement is shared. Like that human wave that rolls around a football stadium or hockey rink, I was awed by the humanity that surfaced with this shared. I sat and watched the comments flood in. All so inspiring. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree with your view. Dave

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  107. I believe that these magical moments serve to mend and heal humanity at a deep level, erasing the differences and the distance that we have created between us, allowing us to see and know that we are truly One. We may think these moments are fleeting and that they pass and are forgotten, but I believe the memory stays within us and shifts each of us and those we come into contact with afterwards. So the moment keeps on giving. Thank you for sharing this beautifully moving and inspiring story of Love and Truth in action. Namaste.

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  108. This is the kind of story I would like to think our world could be wrapped in, especially the USA and the area in which I live. The joy that diversity and understanding diversity can bring is often times hard to detail. Your words, Naomi Shahib Nye (whose words I have read for years), gave us a clear picture of how it could be. This is a story I will treasure and share many times.

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  111. Reblogged this on Jane Arie Baldwin and commented:
    My mother introduced me to the work of Naomi Shihab Nye. She is now one of my favorite poets. The picture she paints in this story is how I want to live in the world — to embody it, to connect with everyone around me so that we can be rooted together.

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  113. Love Naomi! Had the chance to meet her in connection with the Silver Apples of the Moon Art and Poetry contest in Shaker Heights, Ohio with the library and Cleveland Art Museum, back in 2006.

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  117. Pingback: People Being Awesome | Country 107.1
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  120. Thank you. When 9/11 happened, I lived in a town with 2 Jewish Day schools and one Muslim school. I called the Muslim one and apologized for the acts of non Muslims in my town who were talking trash and boycotting Arab businesses. And I asked if they would like to have the kids from our respective schools, Jewish kids and Muslim kids have a day together. We all said yes. We are all people. Peace be with you

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  121. Ah, what a wonderful story. That is the kind of world I want to live in, too. I do wish people would realize how they can beautify the world with simple actions.

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  125. What a story! I took a month-long Amtrak trip in September, partly to see if there were still some decent, honorable people in this world. There were two on one train who were not, but by and large, Isome totally magnificent people crossed my path. Those wonderful people showed me that there is still some hope for decency and honor in this world.

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  126. What a story! I took a month-long Amtrak trip in September, partly to see if there were still some good, decent people in this world. There were two on one train who weren’t, but by and large, many magnificent people crossed my path. It is because of these wonderful people I got to meet that I still hold hope that there is still decency and honor in this country and this world.

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  127. This is marvelous, thank you very much. Every once in a while I run across something that resonates so strongly, i print it out and hang it up in more than one place around the house so I end up reading it daily. This is the longest piece I’ve ever done that with but it’s definitely as worthy if not more so than anything else I’ve hung on the mirror and doors previously.

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  129. I love the fact that Ms. Nye presents this as an experience that she took part in not one that she initiated or directed. This is a modern ‘Stone Soup’ if you know that story. I get almost as much from the telling and sharing of this story as I would have by being there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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    1. There are friendly folks all over… America is still a group of folks from all over the world.

      That must have been a great time of waiting for a plane,

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  131. These types of stories need to make the front page. A nation that moves independently in the same direction is less effective that one that moves together as one.

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  135. How very lovely. I believe that the Lord places you where you need to be and when you respond to someone elses needs you are fulfilling your own. Thanks for sharing!

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  141. Pingback: One woman’s story of helping a stranger at the airport will remind you of the goodness of people | Rare

  144. What a beautiful story! Thank goodness there are moments like this! Thank you for your kindness in helping that woman. She will be talking about the “wonderful time at the airport” for the rest of her life. This made me and so many other readers smile. Just beautiful!

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  145. Hi, Naomi,
    This is the world as it always has been! People are loving and kind, despite what one reads or watches. Kindness is not co-opted or used for propaganda, and does not have a political agenda, as fear-mongers would have us believe. Thanks for sharing.

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  149. David thanks for posting this here. It all worked wonderfully because Naomi and this lady as well as the others connected at the personal level and they knew they valued each other as people who they cared enough about to help out. Naomi didn’t just help this lady get through this situation but brought something special to her own self and well-being as well as to the other folks around. We need to do this everyday in our dealings with others. Sometimes just a smile when another is down can brighten up their day and make a positive change for them.

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  152. I love moments like these. What a wonderful moment for you, and for the folks who experienced it with you. Thank you for the reminder of my own special moments in time, those rare but special connections with strangers where anything seems possible and all people, for one moment, are beautiful.

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  156. A little kindness…and look what happened! I hope this inspires everyone who reads it to go out there and make a *little* difference…You never know where it might go!

    Aloha!

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      1. This photo of Nye was taken by WT Pfefferle, January 2004, at Nye’s home in San Antonio. The IMEU has not credited the photographer.

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    5. I did something like this once, at the departure gate from Newark to Tel Aviv, where a middle-aged woman in Palestinian dress was being rudely treated by an airline employee. I do not speak Arabic, but when she finally was released, i sat next to her and tried a bit of English. Nope. French? Nope. So I pulled out a couple of photos of my grandchildren. Aha! She had been in New York visiting her grandchildren. We had a long conversation and a few cups of tea during a flight delay — It doesn’t even take language. It takes . . . what? caring?

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  161. Thank you. Tears in my eyes. Such compassion and sharing. Whenever my elderly mother travels at Christmas to visit, I would always hope that there would be one traveler who would show her such compassion if she were in need without one of us with her. I know this is a story about much more than that, but that is how I envisioned it.

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  166. This is the light that Naomi Nye shines wherever she goes! I’ve met her at some poetry conferences and taught her poems for years. We even exchanged letters once. She is one of those artists who is as a genuine and compassionate as a person as she is talented. One of my all-time favorite carbon-based life forms! 🙂

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    1. Mike, I wish I could have the opportunity to listen to hear in a poetry reading. Would be a wonderful experience. Thanks for sharing. You’ve inspired me to drop her a line given the explosion of shares that her work has received in this post. I will do so this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  170. When my boys were 4 and 1 we got delayed at Atlanta airport on the way back from Florida. I had planned the flight around the younger one’s naptime, so…as I was trying to corral the 4 year old, comfort the sobbing 1 year old and call my husband about the delay, a lovely older woman quietly came up and took the 1 year in her arms. Within 20 minutes all of the families had banned together to take turns comforting, playing with, and feeding the little ones. By the time the flight was called we knew everything we needed to know about each other, and parted good friends, even thought we knew we’d never see each other again.

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  173. This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate— once the crying of confusion stopped— seemed apprehensive about any other person.

    Inasmuch as the citizens of the Gaza Strip elected Hamas to represent them, and a couple of days ago some Palestinians murdered five Jews in a synagogue in Jerusalem, it’s stunning to read a Palestinian offering this view.

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  175. Thank you for such a calm, beautiful, powerful reminder that it IS that simple and we each hold the power. I, too, wish to live in this world. If we each do a little, each day, I believe we can.

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  177. Its a kind of relation similar to that one between Le petit Prince with the Desert Fox . You can never forget a such event in your life .You are now unique for each other . That is greatly lovable .Bravo !

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  178. I’ve treasured a little booklet of poems, “Wrapping the Grapeleaves,” for years because of Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “Grandfather’s Heaven.” Don’t stop writing -ever!!! You have so much to share.

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  179. Pingback: Gate A-4 | Ingrid Oliphant's UnCommon Touch

  184. رأيتك أمس في الميناء

    مسافرة بلا أهل .. بلا زاد

    ركضت إليك كالأيتام،

    أسأل حكمة الأجداد :

    لماذا تسحب البيّارة الخضراء

    إلى سجن، إلى منفى، إلى ميناء

    و تبقى رغم رحلتها

    و رغم روائح الأملاح و الأشواق ،

    تبقى دائما خضراء؟
    …

    وأنت كنخلة في الذهن ما انكسرت لعاصفة وحطاب،

    وما جزت ضفائرها

    وحوش البيد والغاب

    فلسطينية العينين والوشم

    ….

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      1. Sorry for posting without a translation. The words are taken from Mahmoud Darwish’s poem “A lover from Palstine.” Here is the translation for the above copied from the site at the link below:

        I saw you last at the port
        A lonely traveler without luggage
        I ran to you like an orphan, a child
        Seeking answers in ancestral wisdom:
        How could the green orchard be imprisoned
        Exiled, banished to a port
        And still remain green

        ….

        And you like the braided palm tree
        Unbending to the storm
        Heedless of the hewer’s blows
        Beyond the claw and the fangs of the jungle beasts

        ….

        Palestinian are your eyes
        Palestinian is your name
        Palestinian your thoughts-dreams
        Palestinian your mantilla, your body
        Your feet

        http://www.jehat.com/Jehaat/en/Poets/MahmoudDarwish1.htm

        ..

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  186. I heard her recite some of her poetry at the Jonesboro Storytelling Festival in about 1997 in Tennessee when I was there in college. I loved her work so much that I bought The Tree Is Older Than You Are at the festival. I want to live like this: looking for loveliness.

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  187. #Nostalgia… I first met Naomi in 1985 when she & her husband Michael & then-baby/now-adult son Madison & I were all living at the same center Na Bolom in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. We spent a few wonderful months hanging out (while I was also working with refugee and human rights groups there over a 5 year period). My favorite poem that she wrote during that time was this one:
    ————————————
    KINDNESS:

    Before you know what kindness really is
    you must lose things,
    feel the future dissolve in a moment
    like salt in a weakened broth.
    What you held in your hand,
    all this must go so you know
    how desolate the landscape can be
    between the regions of kindness.
    How you ride and ride
    thinking the bus will never stop,
    the passengers eating maize and chicken
    will stare out the window forever.

    Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
    you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
    lies dead by the side of the road.
    You must see how this could be you,
    how he too was someone
    who journeyed through the night with plans
    and the simple breath that kept him alive.

    Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
    you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
    You must wake up with sorrow.
    You must speak it till your voice
    catches the thread of all sorrows
    and you see the size of the cloth.

    Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
    only kindness that ties your shoes
    and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
    purchase bread,
    only kindness that raises its head
    from the crowd of the world to say
    It is I you have been looking for,
    and then goes with you everywhere
    like a shadow or a friend.

    -Naomi Shihab Nye

    (from her book of poetry “Words Under the Words”)
    —————————————————————-

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    2. I met Naomi when she did a poetry workshop at Ray high school in 1977. I wrote a little poem that day, something like this: “home is where the heart is, they say, but a house is not a home. I knew a man with a thousand homes, and I knew a man with none. The latter was a rich old miser, and the former was a bum.”
      Two years ago my now thirteen year old daughter started studying Arabic. Now her twin brother studies Arabic also. I really never knew why they were learning Arabic, but I guess now I do!
      Thanks Naomi.

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  198. I love kindness and compassion, the touching of one heart to another. Thank you for this beautiful, inspiring true story! Let us continue to carry forth the light of “Random Acts of Kindness”!

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  199. I am in love with this story. It is frakking awesome and so are you for telling it, and making my day in the process. I’m reminded of those youtube videos from Russia called “the video that made the whole world cry” or something like that, each of them six or seven minutes of clips of people helping other people in random public crises as minor as crossing the street to life-threatening floods and car accidents. Why we don’t all live our lives this way every day is even more baffling to me than Fox News.

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  200. Reblogged this on Old Road Apples and commented:
    if you read one post today, read this one. I am in love with this story. It is awesome and so is the writer for telling it, and making my day in the process. I’m reminded of those youtube videos from Russia called “the video that made the whole world cry” or something like that, each of them six or seven minutes of clips of people helping other people in random public crises as minor as crossing the street to life-threatening floods and car accidents. Why we don’t all live our lives this way every day is even more baffling to me than Fox News.

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  202. After watching an hour of doom and gloom from CNN, this just made my day and my eyes leak some :-). Tanks for sharing this wonderful story

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  205. I know the ABQ airport really well, and oddly enough, this unlikely scenario anywhere else seems to be not at all surprising there. I know that probably the finest, most generous man I’ve ever known was a Palestinian man who lived in Gallup, NM. I’ve known his entire family well and used to received Eid treat platters from them in the mail. The blend of cultures is a New Mexico tradition several thousand years old. Adding diverse Europeans to the mix was not much of a stretch for that place at all.

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  208. this is such a nice story. hope lots of people will read it and it dispels some of the paranoia and mistrust. thanks for sharing

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  209. Pingback: Sharing “one”* thing | sinibaldo.wordpress.com

  210. This is one of those beautiful gifts from living a life of being open to caring. You spread joy on that day, and they all gave it back to you.

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  214. I’m embarrassed to admit I’d have had to call my father to act as a translator. On the plus side, he used to do that professionally and would get a kick out of it.

    He’d also figure out, in the first five minutes, how we’re related.

    (And as it happens, I have mamool just outside my office and a cup of coffee in front of me. Time for them to get together, I think.)

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  215. I was working in a hospital pharmacy years ago when someone came around looking for anyone who knew any French. I’d studied for 4 years, so I joined a pharmacy tech and a few other people in trying to help a Haitian man with a stomach ache. We were given a list of questions to ask and stumbled our way through most; enough to learn what he’d eaten the day before, which led to an easy diagnosis. As we were leaving, I suddenly realized why he looked so confused when we asked, over and over, what we thought was “Have you taken any medicine?” Instead, we’d repeated, “Have you taken a doctor?” I’m glad others’ experiences have been easier than ours was! I’m also glad I haven’t been called upon to communicate in French since then.

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  219. I met a an interesting man named Joe on a flight between Alaska & Portland. This is the post I shared with my friends on Facebook.

    June 20, 2014
    Facebook post
    June 20, 2014

    Portland. Pooped. Leaving Alaska is always so hard emotionally and physically. Had a very nice man named Joe as my aisle mate. I knew right away that he was going to be chatty and I sort if dreaded it since I only wanted to sleep. Something told me to listen to him, that he needed to talk, so after he asked me where I was going and then why I am in Alaska I followed up with… “And you?” I learned so much about this guy in the time it takes to board a plane. He is from Nashville with a polite accent and follows his sentences with hun, and your kindly welcome, born in 48, was in Vietnam, two plane crashes, helped build phone systems in here in Alaska, retired military 20 years ( ex marine) had an injury that now requires him to walk with a cane ( which he seemed self conscious about), was an alcoholic that taught himself to make beautiful leather crafts that he now sells to keep himself out of trouble, that he refuses to turn into a business because of taxes, he had a son die of cancer when he was 19. He talked about his son a lot, as if he died yesterday. Said, I was in war and saw horrific things, but nothing compares to that. I listened. When he opened his phone the first time to show me pictures of the fish he caught,I asked his son in my heart to please not let this go on the whole flight. When he opened his phone again to show me examples of his leather work ( although beautiful) I asked God to please not let there be a third time. When the flight crew said the plane was full but no one sat in the middle seat between us, I imagined Joe’s son getting comfortable in that seat, with a boy’s smile saying, “that’s my dad. Isn’t he amazing? I love to hear his stories.”

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  220. If we are all open to the present moment and act with an open heart filled with love. We can reach out. Simple as that! We can share, feel the energy flowing, and feel life, joy, love! The world needs more of those open, courageous people, who look beyond the surface and feel what is really needed.

    Thanks for sharing this beautiful story! 🙂

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  222. Oh Naomi, your sweet spirit makes the world a better place! Thank you for visiting my school back in the 1970’s as our poet in residence. You touched many young lives and clearly continue to do so! I sang “Rutabaga Roo” for my kids years ago in an attempt to get them to eat a lovely soup that included rutabagas. They did not like my soup, but we had a great time singing about it!
    ❤️ Amy Patton

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  235. Beautiful story. I always believed that the two things that bring people closer together are: crisis… and cookies. The world doesn’t need another war. It needs cookies. Powdery sugar just makes it that much better.

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  236. Naomi: You are an angel … It’s not easy for older people to travel, especially alone. I must say she was a brave soul to make that Journey on her own… Keep on doing what you do… you made a difference in so many peoples world that day…

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  246. What a wonderful story. Brought back a memory of something my mother once did. Returning from a trip she met a woman from Papua New Guinea who was stranded at the Toronto airport as her flight had been delayed until the next day. She had nowhere to go for the night. So my mother brought this lady back to her home for the night! Two strangers trusting each other.

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  247. I’m all smiles right now!! At the right place and the right time. Just wonderful.
    For those who want to try Mamul, you can place an order online for the best Mamul ever at http://www.zalatimosweets.com

    In 1860, Mohammad Zalatimo opened a small pastry shop in the old city of Jerusalem, within the ancient walls surrounding the roman built church of the Holy Sepulchre. And since 1860 Zalatimo Sweets, family owned and operated produced consistently while keeping in focus the original, fresh hand-made taste that Zalatimo Sweets Company is known for and has offered for over 150 years.

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  255. I think you should submit this story to Travelers Tales, or some other type of anthology. It’s heartwarming, well written and has a great narrative arc. Loved the bit about the plant, and being rooted. Well done.

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  258. Beautiful. We travel a lot, like 8-10 times a year as a family for work and always talk about the travel angels we will see or maybe be for someone else when we travel. Sounds like you were a wonderful travel angel that day. Thank you for inspiring story.

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  259. Pingback: Gate A-4 | Comments From The Peanut Gallery

  260. Is this a true story of something that happened to Naomi Shihab Nye, or is it a fictional short story she wrote for a book in which it appears? Sure, it could be true, but her occupation is writing poetry and fiction. I’ve come across so many touching stories like this one, so eloquently written — only to be disappointed when I found out that they were fiction by an eloquent writer. I’d like to believe this is true. Can someone confirm?

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    1. Great question. I’ve had similar experiences. I can’t be sure. But this is what I found:

      “This small, but powerful collection of poetry and poetic prose loosely memorializes many current events including the war in the Middle East and the disappearance of the honeybees, but it also follows Nye on her personal journeys around the world.” There are other reviews at this link:

      http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honeybee-naomi-shihab-nye/1103371523?ean=9780060853907

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  262. This story reminded me of how important it is to be able and willing
    to listen carefully and provide assistance when and however we can. Kindness is never wasted!

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  263. Reblogged this on This System is Broken and commented:
    This moved me deeply. Not only because I have Arab friends, and not only because I have recently suffered racism myself, but because it could have played out so differently. It brings to mind the heartbreaking Robert Dziekanski incident on October 2007 in Vancouver airport. A tragedy that would never have happened if people were not so quick to judge.

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  264. I’m on the vestry (like a board) of an Episcopal church in southern New Jersey and at the end of each meeting our priest asks us to share a ‘God moment’ from the past month. A time when you have experienced God in your like. I’d say that this was a God moment (however you and the others there interpret a god). Peace.

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  266. Beautiful. Thank you for this really inspiring story. Yeah, we all just need actual, emotional connection. It would heal our world, and this toxic, sociopathic Western culture we’re all suffering under, which is based on screw the other person over, and very cold in its tone. It’s a great thing you did. Thank you.

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  268. I always go to the airport with the intention of making new friends. That means, usually, helping someone. But, that’s okay, because then I’ve done something good & it helped the time go by & then I have the story for the rest of my life.
    This paid off best when my son was only 4 (over two decades ago- WOW!) & we went on a trip to Atlanta. I packed many snacks for him, so as to perhaps be able to keep him occupied & not bother the other passengers. I made about 3 times as much as I thought I would need, but figured: Better Safe than Sorry!
    Well, at what was supposed to be a short stop-over, we became delayed by many hours. Snack bars closed, people got hungry & cranky. The folks that had already been pleasant to myself & my child were gifted apple slices, quarters of PB&J sandwiches, crackers & raisins. We shared stories over our picnic & made friends. We got excited with the young woman who was going to see her fiancee after a long separation, & looked at photos of people’s grand kids. We sang children’s songs to my son.
    When we finally arrived in Atlanta, the last train was being called…if I missed it, I would have to, somehow, carry my now sleeping & heavy kid & all our carry-on luggage for MILES! BUT, my crew sprang into action! They practically mugged an airport worker with one of those golf cart-thingies & convinced him that he WAS going to get me & the kid to the train on time! Then, they flung my stuff on the cart & helped me up, without ever waking the baby!
    Off we went, as our new & never to be forgotten friends ran behind us waving & even blowing a kiss!
    What a hilarious sight we all were! Oh, but I’m so glad I packed more food than I needed!

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    2. Nice. You Americans sell yourselves short way too often. Proud to be your cousins in
      Canada north of the 48th… we got your backs if need be… and, no, we don’t want anything for it… just your smiles…

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  273. great story. And it was believable up until the point about the airline handing out free apple juice. Nevertheless, it is a good story about just being human.

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  274. Reblogged this on THE HURLEY EDITION and commented:
    I saw this post on another site, the brilliant Live & Learn by David Kanigan, a fellow Canadian. I have to say, not only is this post very indicative of what his blog is like, his blog is very inspiring to me as I am trying to reboot, restyle, and reset, I guess.

    Thank you David for a wonderful blog and thank you to Naomi Shihab Nye who is the author of this excellent post.

    I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do.

    ~ todd

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  275. You do live in this world. It is called the USA,. A place where a woman in a hijab can travel by herself anywhere she needs to, get medical treatment that she needs and strangers come to your aid in a time of desperation.

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  278. Traveling in airports seems to be the big equalizer. We are safe sometimes talking to strangers because we know,, we will never see the person again. I think sometimes,, what if I do? Will they acknowledge the previous moment? I think what you did was wonderful along with the “joining” you got to experience. I am an expat, living in Ecuador, here everyone talks to you,, hello, good morning, good afternoon, good night,, have a great meal,, como esta,,, it is a natural rhythm in my day now.. when I go back to America,, I get silence.
    Then I wish I was back in Ecuador where people like to see you.

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  287. Pingback: Cynsational Information & Giveaways | TiaMart Blog

  288. Thanks for sharing Patti, just today, I said to Flash, Gosh I wish we could just all be friends. Love this story. Love you and your family, too.

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  289. Thanks so much, David. Glad this piece of Naomi’s led me to your blog (via someone affiliated with my high school a coast and 40 years away.) I came oh so close to being in a class with Naomi at Tassajara but her mother became ill just before the class, so she couldn’t make it. You serve as a reminder to look again at her schedule!

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  293. As a Palestinian stand up comedian, I never hear stories that humanize us. I am going to use this in a comedy routine. We need more story tellers like Naomi. Is she on Twitter? I just love her. This is why I teach my son Arabic. I took him to the West Bank just like Naomi’s dad took her. Read my story about my visit here: http://suziesaysso.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/west-bank-visit/

    Follow me for more humanity and less fear @SuzieAfridi

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  298. When people live with their hearts, they abundantly share love. A very nice story that reminds us how powerful we are when we simply live like HUMANS instead of locked in dogmatic cultural clusters.

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  300. Pingback: More Monday Morning Treasure | Tell me a story, Mommy

  303. What a great story!?!
    “Ma’amouls” is an Arabic sweet, some stuffed with walnuts, others with dates dates. This colloquial Arabic word, “Ma’amoul”, literally means, “It is made”, or simply, “made”.
    Yes, growing up in Palestine and Lebanon, it used to be typically made for Easter by Christian and Muslim Arab women friends and family who would gather together at one of their homes and they would bring all the fresh and wonderful ingredients and make these sweets for all the participating families. Today, it is sold year-round by bakeries that make suits and even packaged product.
    In this beautiful story, the powdered sugar that got sprinkled on those who took the “sacrament”, it was no less than a magical potion sprayed from Heaven through one of its beloved Angels.

    Awad

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  304. Pingback: Notes from the Sunday Service - Grace UMC Dillon

  309. Yes! Good is here. My 6 year old daughter, on a whim, gave every single person in Trader Joe’s a hug. The whole store felt like a Christmas tree. Everyone was smiling, glowing. No fear, no awkwardness, just tender acceptance of the most beautiful of hugs. My daughter was thrilled when a customer surprised her with a gift as we were leaving the store (he budged in line just to buy the gift before we left!). It was beautiful. It was community. It is who we really are. 🙂

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  310. One of three items I’m sending around to my friends and family. I’ve never done that before. This story, thank you to the author and you, for posting it, for what you’ve all seen it it which I saw too, but also the picture of the hardships of being a woman in a foreign land, a settler, and, a link to the movie Frozen River, showing what those we stole the land from suffer but again, a communion between women, and the obituary of Misty Upham.

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  314. i came across this just now as I am still basking in the glow of Thanksgiving (not participating in Black Friday) and what a story of Thanksgiving it is. You have painted a hopeful and beautiful image of possibility 🙂

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  315. Pingback: Adult Bible Study this Sunday – November 30, 2014 - Peace Lutheran Church

  317. david-
    Do you know the writer personally? Any idea how to get something to her? I’m from Tucson- this kind of kindness deserves a Ben’s Bell. I’d love to send her one.
    Bensbells.org

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  321. My all-time favorite prose-poem.
    I’m old enough to remember when airlines handed out free snacks when a flight was significantly delayed. How sad that so many people now find the free juice unbelievable.

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  322. Such a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it. I hope it is a tiny view into acts of kindness, compassion and connection that are actually happening all the time, and that we neglect to write about and share.

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  324. David… David, this was a heart inspiring post and you are a true testiment to those moments I wish I could see on the evening news. I know events like this happen all the time but are very rarely captured. You are awesome!

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    4. Wonderful!! Shared on FB and will reblog on FrenchySuzette.com tomorrow with credit and a link back. Also, sending to my son who’s French-American, educated in Paris, married to a Russian, living in Holland! They both love people and traveling!

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  338. Pingback: What I'm Reading | November 2014 | Go Tripping

  339. This is a story that truly warms the heart. It was so nice to smile as I read and pictured the reality of this story. In a world where the media often talks about death, hatred, destruction a breath of fresh air is shared in a touching story entitled Gate A-4.
    I would also like to thank you for taking the time to read my posting on Obesity. Health is my passion in life and I enjoy sharing information that many are never exposed to. I hope you have the opportunity to read future postings and comment if so motivated. Thank you again.

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  340. Reblogged this on All About Healthy Choices and commented:
    In a world filled with fear, anger, hostility and hopelessness we have a story that helps restore faith in people regardless of cultural diversification. This is a story you should keep and re-read regularly. David, thank you for posting this story.

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  344. “She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies— little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts— from her bag and was offering them to all the women at the gate.” And if you were a man… No cookies for you!

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      1. Noticed that too. Men have different rituals for supporting one another. This is the way women do/need it. Talking, sharing food, being social, joining in, including children. Be advised and aware that we are moving strongly back to the matriarchal. Men, you will must consider standing up and approaching the warmth and food, lest you be warriors forever. 🙂

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  354. Amen, David.
    Earlier this year I’ve been reading on Facebook “Humans of New York,” short and poignant shorts stories like this one. I’ve missed them for a few months now.

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  357. Pingback: Gate A-4 | will's insanity

    1. Wow, that’s a powerful story. Given a choice, most of us would like to be exactly like all these people…kind. Fortunately, we have that choice.

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  362. Reblogged this on frogmaki and commented:
    thank you for sharing this on a day when so many of us feel crumpled on the floor not understanding the raging fear and hysteria that has delayed reason and compassion. I am reblogging so I can read your beautiful story again.

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  364. It can and does still happen, every day! My wife, “Lisa” (traveling with our daughter) was in this very situation this summer, only with an 80 year old French woman (in all her diminutive, demanding, classy, “frank” stereotypical glory). This was supposed to be a non-stop from SF>Paris, got to Idaho and turned around due to mechanical issues. My wife watched them drop full tanks of fuel for 10 minutes and was anxious in her own right about landing safely. “Mamie” needed someone to tell here in French what was going on. Lisa stepped up, using her French to explain the situation and then help her navigate the rebooking in English. However, aiding Mamie also resulted in them being at the end of the 300-person line of United customers who now needed new flights. That 2 pm flight became an airport hotel (at which they finally arrived past midnight), an early shuttle back to the airport the next morning, a flight to DC (with lengthy layover), then finally another plane to Paris. Lisa accompanied her the entire way (minus the sleeping time in their own hotel rooms), including phone calls with Mamie’s sons in America and her daughter in France until handing her off to her said daughter upon arrival at CDG airport a day later. I am quite sure that my wife has not shared this story beyond a few close family and friends, but your story reminded me of it. The beauty of strangers helping strangers, being generous, helpful, and compassionate, and finding in those moments great opportunities (like practicing your French for a full day before arriving IN France) to move humanity ahead a small notch.

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  367. Thank you–a lovely story. At some point over the weekend a friend of mine posted one of those pages (I rarely read) from a story Fred (Mr.) Rogers told about how when he was young and things he heard on the news would scare him, his mother told him to notice that in any horrible tragedy there are always the helpers. I think his message was, if there are always helpers in this world, there is hope. And you were the helper here! Also the man in the Albuquerque airport who had the presence of mind to make the announcement. But you stepped up! There is hope.

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  368. This is such a beautiful story. It does restore your faith in people and we could all use a dose. Thank you for your kindness and for sharing this experience.

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  374. Some of us were lucky enough to have gone to high school w/ Naomi. She was talented way back when… Love her writing but if you ever get to hear her speak, GO! This is where she really shines.

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  381. Pingback: Gate A-4:”It Was Like a Sacrament” | A More Peaceful Table

  383. Thank you thank you thank you!!!! this shared moment means so much to me. It reached me in the moment of great despair, now i will get up. Get up, and do the best i can.

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  393. Naomi….you have long been an inspiration in my life…for your poetry but more for your humanities and your beautiful gift of staying present and paying attention. Your stories have filled my heart. Your words have stayed with me as a reminder that we must stay present and witness each other’s lives as if they were our own. We are one divine force in this world and we can chose fear or we can chose love. Thank you for teaching us to always chose love.

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  403. Wonderful story! I share a somewhat similar story; traveled alone first time. Five hour delay, seven hours from home; then cancelled due to inclement. Met a handicapped young lady who was headed for Kripala Institute in Massachusetts, traveling alone also but from Nova Scotia, Canada. She had saved her money for a week’s stay. I live one half hour away from the campus. Our flight was cancelled after five hours on the tarpac; the entire group on standby….could be days… A man on the flight shouted out that he was going back to Albany, tonight…He had rented a car, anyway interested in joining? He was a truck driver for Price Chopper, upstate New York. He knew the roads and he could drive… So we went; he and his wife and three other ladies, one of which living in a different county than I, but I knew members of her husband’s family, ascertained during the journey back to upstate NY…. and riding with us, was my new Canadian friend!. The truck driver drove 7 hours in the snow and sleet, in the darkness of the interstate and parkways. We talked, stopped for coffee and got to know one another on this journey… and we arrived in Albany at 12:00 midnight, 11 hours after our scheduled arrival by plane. Luggage showed up at 2:00 a.m., home by 3:00 a.m. and at Kripala Institute by 8:25 that morning to meet the appointment of my new friend’s week’s stay. I marvel to this day at how it all came together and I met some lovely people in the interim. Meant to be.

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    2. Truly another wonderful story of kindness, compassion, sensitivity to another person’s fears/needs/humanity…the chance meeting/the reaching out/the joy and pleasure of discovering each other’s humanness and one’s similarities…Lovely, wonderful, sweet…
      Thank you for telling us about this experience…

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    3. I am constantly amazed at how God puts things together to benefit so many in difficult situations. God provided me a driver (passenger on my flight) from the airport to my home three hours away when I was tired, sick and not feeling I could safely drive the distance. He was awake and alert and able to drive but, had planned on staying the night then renting a car the next morning. He lived just ten minutes from my home. He was a blessing to me by driving my car and I to him by getting him home about 12 hours earlier than he had expected.

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  406. Shoukran! I can’t speak much Arabic, but thank you seems appropriate right now. Your story reminded me of when I was totally disorientated, thoroughly lost, in Fez in 2008. I had a photo in my guidebook of Bab Boujelard (I might have spelled that wrong, I’ve since given the book away to someone who needed it on freecycle) the gate was very close to the backpacker hotel I was staying on the roof of. I love that whole families were promenading, and everybody warmly understood enough to point me in the right direction using a combination of French, Arabic, Berber and English even though I’d have to ask again closer for more directions. It was after midnight, but I felt very safe.

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  421. i loved this story too! airports are one of my favorite places… somehow, there’s more equality.. a level playing field, at airports. i work with refugees from around the world, and after spending my days sifting through all the sad stories and statistics, it’s so refreshing to see a positive story… of a temporary family forming at an airport, connected primarily because they are human beings at the same gate, waiting.

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    2. Most of us know that there are good, harmless people everywhere, these people need to stand against those of their kind who have brought so much grief to this world. They need to come apart from them, deny them and be separate so that the world will know that they do not agree with or condone their awful behavior. Very heartwarming story. I wish we could hear more of these and less of the other.

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  434. Sue Patience Ryan I was so happy to read this. Thank you for posting your experience. You know there are places where that poor lady would have been ostracized and I am so glad that the people in that departure lounge were decent human beings, and were kind and sympathetic to that lovely old lady. I hope she had a successful operation, and thank you again for taking care of her, which is what most normal, kind people would do, but these days one never knows! smile emoticon

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  436. Naomi and I went to high school together… we were both on the staff of the school newspaper … she was a brilliant writer even then, though not appreciated by many. I have followed her career since… this sort of thing is not uncommon for her… she seems to find the good in everyone… and is always on the side of justice and understanding. She is a true gift to humanity.

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  442. I love this story. It is moving regardless of how many times I have read it. I was thinking that my daughter, who speaks Arabic, among other languages, would have done the same as Shihab Nye did, had she been there. Once, on a long bus ride from Durham NC to DC, she sat across the aisle from a pregnant Central American woman who was traveling with an infant in her arms, and a toddler, who was asleep on the seat next to her, when the bus reached a scheduled rest stop. The woman appeared confused and distressed, and my daughter asked her in Spanish what was wrong. The woman spoke no English, and didn’t understand why the bus had stopped. My daughter explained that it was an opportunity for the passengers to buy food and stretch their legs. The woman wanted to get some food, but didn’t want to wake her toddler or leave him alone on the bus. So my daughter offered to watch the child while the woman went to get some food. Too trusting of a stranger? Not if you met my daughter.

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  443. I love this story. I just love pure human connection. At a bus stop, on a train, standing in line at the post office. Ordinary times can be so extraordinary when people truly connect.

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  444. Pingback: Gate A-4 – Naomi Shihab Nye | Pradip Malde Classes

  448. Thank you for sharing this very heart warming and timely story. Ms. Naomi Shihab Nye has a heart of gold. Imagine if Gate A-4 had no boundaries and everyone treated each other like that world wide.

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  450. Usually this time of year I watch the movie Trains. planes & Automobiles. John Candy, Steve Martin classic While reading your story and comments my thoughts of my own personal experience / life had my brain spinning. Watch the movie, thanks.

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  451. As I wrote when I shared your story on Facebook tonight,
    “This is the story I needed to read tonight to settle my anxious mind enough to think about sleep. I don’t know you, Naomi Shihab Nye, but thank you.”

    I’d give you a hug if I could.

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    2. this story is so wonderful, but (and I’m not being a downer) how was this woman able to get homemade cookies and a plant past airport security? I tried to bring an unopened box of grits from NC to NH and they had a fit – and once, from London to USA, they had to call in Agriculture just because I had a starfish

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      1. You are allowed to bring any food items that aren’t liquid or gels onto any domestic flight. There are also no limitations on plants (other than of course space-related ones), on domestic flights, either.

        International travel is different, but I brought an entire frozen turkey on a flight from Newark to Orlando, and no one batted an eye, not even when I put it through the xray machine.

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        2. I fly from Tallahassee to Atlanta bringing back the homemade cakes, pies, and oatmeal cookies all the time. Even though the TSA agents say they need a slice of each and a few cookies for a taste test.

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      4. Each airport is different. TSA needs to become consistent. As for London they are even tough on Airline Crew WORKING the flights. They have really strict rules going in & worse going out, especially to the USA. There was a time when after they looked through all our bags they then insisted we check them ALL!
        I think if the plant was x-rayed, & the cookies are just food, not liquid, she was able to have them.

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        2. Yeah, I’ve found that different TSA agents have different ideas about what is solid. I had some leftover carrot salad (old family recipe) that I brought for my lunch one year and the agents at the small town airport decided that it was liquid. I sat down and ate it rather than have them through it away. That same small airport is tougher to get through than any of the major one’s I’ve flown out of.

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          2. I bring my lunch through security all the time: sandwich, nuts, cookies. But not yogurt, only because it was more than the 3.2 oz. allowed and I haven’t been able to find any smaller than 4 oz. I also bring an empty water bottle to fill up once past security.

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        3. I live in a very small arctic village where grocery costs are unbelievably high, so every time I travel back home I bring as much food back as possible. I check all the liquids of course, but usually hand carry things like produce that might be damaged by rough handling. Even eggs are allowed by TSA. Only two food items have tripped me up so far, potatoes and butter. Both were eventually allowed, but not until TSA pulled them out of my carry-on for careful examination.

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      7. Yup, I traveled with a 3 foot maple tree beside my seat, from Boston to Colorado Springs. (Very naive because I didn’t realize that it wouldn’t be happy in it’s new environment. But I needed to bring a piece of the old place to the new place…)

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      8. Believe it or not, sometimes the TSA is OK, and there is a reason for certain things being denied and others allowed. A starfish, for example, unless it has been sterilized, is teeming with bacteria that could become an ‘invasive species.’ Some states do not allow fruits and veggies unless processed, due to pests (California stops cars at the border and prohibits home-grown fruits, for example.) Hawaii has scanners for organic material, and allows next to nothing (except, of course, freaking GMOs!!) to enter their very fragile ecosystem. If you take your boat from the Mississippi to Lake Superior without sterilizing the hull, you can get in huge trouble, because the eggs of invasive species are being introduced.

        Not sure about the grits, must have been unprocessed. As for the starfish – hmmmmmm….

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      9. If you scroll to the end of the post you’ll see citations for the photograph and story (which is great). Note that it is from a publication of hers dated 2008, which for me implies this event took place sometime before that date. Air travel was much more relaxed. I use to be able to travel taking food on board, and I can imagine these items were able to travel with her. Just my thought.

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          1. totally true! It’s a great story and I LOVE that it resurfaces every few months. Every time it does, someone links it on my Facebook page and tells me I would love the story. And every time I do! Thanks David.

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  460. Naomi, this is a heart warming experience that we all need to hear right now! Thank you for sharing!!
    My mom gave my daughter, Siti’s Secret. My mom had heard of the book or gotten the book, from her San Antonio friends Gail. I have read it to my daughter since she was little, now at age 9, she can read it to me. Thank you for helping to bring our world together!! You do make a difference!! 💗

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  466. Pingback: Editorial: A Call for Sanity, Humanitarianism and Media Responsibility | RCTV Media Center

  469. This is such a lovely story about humanism and kindness. Turns out your father and she had ten shared friends. That has stuck as I realize how connected we all are as human beings on this planet. To hold one another during times of stress and grief or fear without judgement is a lesson we all need to hear. We all suffer in similar ways if only for different reasons, we all laugh, we all cry. We mirror each other in so many ways. Those who hurt others are products of deep hurt themselves. Let us recognize in this wonderful story, there is hope for mankind, there are better ways than to weaken unto fear and violence. You cannot fight negativity with negativity, for it will only grow. Instead LOVE is the answer Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story of compassion. You are a true Angel and Earth Warrior for Peace. oxoxoxoxo Bless you.

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  471. This is such a lovely story about humanism and kindness. Turns out your father and she had ten shared friends. That has stuck as I realize how connected we all are as human beings on this planet. To hold one another during times of stress and grief or fear without judgement is a lesson we all need to hear. We all suffer in similar ways if only for different reasons, we all laugh, we all cry. We mirror each other in so many ways. Those who hurt others are products of deep hurt themselves. Let us recognize in this wonderful story, there is hope for mankind, there are better ways than to weaken unto fear and violence. You cannot fight negativity with negativity, for it will only grow. Instead LOVE is the answer Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story of compassion. You are a true Angel and Earth Warrior for Peace. oxoxoxoxo Bless you.

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  477. I’m glad this is making the rounds again a year later – still inspiring! Can you explain why she offered cookies only to the women? I’m just curious if it is something to do with her culture? I am always wanting to learn! Thanks again.

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    1. Smiling. Yes, round 2 of circulation of Naomi’s wonderful story. And at a great time of the year and post Paris. Good question on why cookies weren’t offered to men. Good question.

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  480. Thank you for brightening the candle of hope that ever burns in my heart. It has been wavering in the winds of worldly problems and cultural angst for some time, but is brighter and stronger of flame after reading this today! Kindness is truly the greatest gift we can give, and OHHH how it returns many fold!

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  481. Reblogged this on Talisman Thinking Out Loud and commented:
    Great post and good to remember those who become your community — however temporary when flying or in other circumstances. Many great thoughts here but I loved this ritual,
    “And I noticed my new best friend— by now we were holding hands— had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.”

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  482. Pingback: Gate A-4 – A Traveler’s Tale by Naomi Shihab-Nye | Talisman Thinking Out Loud

  487. I loved this story, thank you for sharing… as for bringing stuff on the plane… about 2 months after 9/11 I was a teenager, and was traveling from my mom to my dad’s to visit for a couple months. I accidentally brought 2 box cutters and a utility knife on a carry on because I usually carried them everywhere in that pack and forgot about them. I found them when I was pulling a gadget out of the same pocket…. a cold feeling rolled over me thinking about someone seeing them and thinking I was a terrorist. I quickly shut them back in and put the bag in the overhead compartment… I didn’t open the bag again until after I left the airport on the receiving side. This went through the x-ray and everything!!! they really don’t pay attention to everyone. Glad for everyone else I am not a bad guy.

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  490. flew from Lexington, KY, to San Francisco, CA, with large foil pan of barbeque (i had mostly removed the liquid from) on my lap! – plane delayed by weather – stopped in Chicago – changed planes . . . my ride was at the original plane as i could not call at what was 3 AM their time . . . i had a dental appt. – had to call the ride and ask for a second trip to the airport . . . made it to the dentist, got the barbeque on the ground – and i have the best experiences talking to people in airports – like the Muslim lady flying w me from Paris to Antananarivo (Madagascar) – in my horrible French i commented on all her flowers and embroidery/applique and lovely colorful outfit – she corrected my French and chatted . . . and chatted . . . people everywhere are . . . people . . . i love them

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  491. Reblogged this on Aphrodite's Musings and commented:
    This can happen anywhere, anytime…if we are not afraid to realize that we are mostly the same. No matter our country of origin, it is really the same things that we fear, the same things that comfort us, the same things that make us sad.

    A little care and compassion goes a long way, don’t you think?

    ~A.

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  496. What a great story…I live in the Middle East and most of the people here are very friendly and always happy to help if you need help or advice.
    Its all about how you treat the people around you at the end of the day…and yes there are loads of problems in the world with the radical Islamists…but the majority are peace loving people and just want a peaceful and happy and safe environment.

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  500. There were many kind people at that gate, but only one spoke this woman’s language. Perhaps one lesson here is to learn more languages. It is among the most important practical steps any individual can take toward fostering a better world. Easier to resolve problems when two people can actually speak to each other.

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  501. It’s interesting to view the comments and see how the discourse changes in the first few comments from one of hope and inspiration to trivial thoughts about what the passenger had in her bag! Jeez get a life and be inspired once in awhile!

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  504. Pingback: “Sharing is Caring” | Whispers of Worth

  505. I love those cookies Naomi. I have a bakery not far from my house where we shop for Middle Eastern goodies. My girls went to a Hebrew Day School with the owners girls they always brought thing to share with their friends at lunch.

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  507. Pingback: Gate A-4 | M u s i n g s

  516. What a lovely person Naomi is! Like many others, I have shared this beautiful story, knowing that it will warm the heart of my friends as much as it does mine. I shall now go ‘hugging the jukebox’.

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  523. Welcome to the real America, home of immigrants and refugees, and the First Immigrants, the First Nation, who settled the New World before any of the rest of us got here. I am a cheerful agnostic, but here is my prayer for all: God, and Allah, and Yahweh, and all other sources of good will, Bless Us Every One!. With apologies to Charles Dickens.

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  528. This is what we can do with our differences and misunderstandings, if we let love and compassion show us what to do. If this works with one lost and confused traveler, could it work for 50,000 refugees, too? Would those that have chosen to try to banish people in need from our midst have voted to keep her off the plane because she was in distress?

    If we let fear and hate dictate our actions, the terrorists win .

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  529. Simply beautiful. It is these stories that give hope. With all the craziness going on around the world, it is a breath of fresh air to hear of heartwarming memories being made at a place where fear would be more prominent than not. Praise God! God bless and keep you all. 🙂

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  530. I believe that more of the world is like this than we think. It is where I live, and where many of the people that I know live. Those who scream the loudest on social media and on the slanted news shows are causing us to be fearful of everything, even innocent children speaking a foreign tongue.

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  531. Pingback: Links I love. | Modern Mrs. Darcy

  532. Kindness is it’s own reward. What a story and how much we need to be reminded especially now, that it is the few that destroy, and many, many good and kind people in this world.

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  533. Pingback: A Life That's Good - BugginWord

  534. One of the most beautiful stories I have ever heard……..this is the resurrection of the feminine face of Allah, God, Buddha, and Spirit……..based on love and relationship—a brief glimpse of bliss!

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  538. Pingback: Weekend Links | Every Day's Best
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  540. Nice story and with a happy ending BUT it is disturbing that that little lady got through our Customs with “a furry little plant” which “could have been used for medicinal purposes”…..WHOA!! Foreign items, especially PLANTS AND FOODS are usually confiscated at all borders due to the potential damage they could cause in countries visited by that passenger. I am talking bugs, fungus, etc., It HAS happened! Hard to believe in looking through the comments above that no one has picked up on the import of illegal plants and food. I am a former flight attendant and totally believe in helping/assisting those who are in need of help and have always tried to treat all passengers with kindness. However, sneaking in potentially dangerous/restricted items (not declared by passengers on Custom entrance forms) is a major threat to our country – no matter how innocent/charming the story goes.

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  551. I have a neighbor who is from Syria. I paid special attention to the part of the story about the cookies, and I found recipes and ingredients and supplies in order to make these. If you look up Ma’amoul or Maamoul you can find out about these wonderful date-filled cookies. I found over 8 pages of recipes and saw several places where the molds to form them are available.They can also be filled with pistachios or other nuts , or apricots or raisins or candied ginger. My neighbor was so happy to get some of these! Cookies are a nice gesture of friendship!

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  552. Pingback: last few weeks… | Naturally Fun Days
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  554. Steve here using my departed wife’s Facebook account.

    I recently wrote a pretty emotional soul bearing Thanksgiving message to a select group of friends talking about ways I had changed, had become more emotional, and now hugged poeople when I greeted them. I explained that I probably could not have written that note a year ago and thanked those who had helped me and “had my back” for the previous 7 months. One response had words that I can never forget. She said:
    “Now I know where poetry comes from.”
    So much said, so well, in 7 short words.

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  556. Pingback: The Best of What I Read in 2015 | The Jesuit Post

  559. The power of a few comforting words can never be underestimated. As someone who speaks several languages, I try to seize every opportunity to use them. As Nelson Mandela said, “If you speak to a man in a language he understands, you speak to his head. If you speak to him in his language, you speak to his heart.”

    It’s also nice to read a story where, one hopes, at least for a few people (those also waiting for the plane) perhaps a few myths and stereotypes were busted.

    Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!

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  560. Pingback: Keeping ties « What Then Why Now
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  572. I loved reading this. Made me hopeful for our world. That’s the world I live in. People more often than not look at what we have in common & consider the things that make us different, interesting. We love, yearn, feel hungry, miss loved ones, celebrate our joys, mourns our losses. Unless you carry hate in your heart. That poisons the well.
    Wish I could have had a cookie.
    Peace.

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  575. Very nice story…was surprised about the plant….most countries and even many states won’t let plants be brought in because of the threat of bring in plant diseases or pests not already in the area.

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  580. Pingback: Perspectives: The monsters that should scare us the most | St George News

  585. Thank you for this spiritual oasis in a desert of sad stories. Let us act from our spirit and not fall silent in fear. Good is all around us, in abundance just waiting to be called forth.

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  586. I met Naomi years ago and poured over her my love of her words. Just today I got home from a delayed flight. Stranded in NYC for the night I bonded with a Canadian woman originally from Syria. She shared a labneh, pita, and cucumber sandwich with me last night as we rejoiced in our efforts to persuade the airline to give us a hotel and a meal voucher. And this morning- these date filled cookies. Love is everywhere. When we finally got to our destination, her cousins hugged me and said I took care of their sister/ cousin. No, we took care of each other.

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  597. I love this story to me it speaks of sisterhood and humanity too but also the old ways of women coming together to heal and soothe. Sadly this appears to be a lost tradition however this very story demonstrates that we all need our ‘sisters’ sometime. Food for the soul.

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  606. As heartwarming as this story is……call me pragmatic, but it does highlight the need for immigrants to assimilate to our culture if only by learning the native language, or predominately spoken language if you prefer. All the drama for everyone involved and the fear and feeling of isolation by this Palestinian woman could have been avoided if she only learned basic English.

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  607. Powerful story! What floors me is that why doesn’t the airlines have linguist available for such situations??!! I am an Arabic linguist and no airline will give me the time of day for such talent and service that is so very needed!

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  611. Reblogged this on Rainy Day Writing and commented:
    This is a beautiful post I found on FB today. It’s a much deeper variation of a theme I posted about recently. I once shared my cannoli with a young service man from NOLA and he shared his sisters homemade pralines. We chatted and joked and then we both napped. We wished one another well at the end of the flight. It was the way things used to be when we traveled. It can be that way again. We just have to remember what unites us and not what makes us bury our heads and hearts in electronic media devices when we are in a crowd.

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  614. That’s so beautiful, your story made my morning. And of course she and your father had about 10 mutual friends! I love that. My father is the same. He can go anywhere in the world and meet someone who knows someone who knows him. He’s from Malta, a tiny island in the Mediterranean. It’s kind of nice that he can find someone to talk to wherever he is.

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  617. This is a beautiful story about hope. It gives me hope in such dister times👍 Thankyou. Everyone needs to be showered with powdered sugar sometimes!

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  618. Taking time to be helpful and kind is something all of us should do and if we do the world will be a better place!!! Love your neighbor as well as yourself!

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  620. It’s nice that not everybody carries bombs or guns. That goes for anyone of any nationality. This is for the world, but we have to keep those who carry bombs and guns in, for a lack of words, lock down. I remember when blacks were treated poorly. I also heard of a nice little old white woman asking for a ride holding her big purse and shortly after entering the vehicle of a generous person, the “nice” little old white woman pulled out an ax. End of life for that generous person. People are scared. Not only in one country, but in the whole wide world. Until a person can be trusted, fear, and distrust will remain. I know a lot of people of many different nationalities. They are good people. The only barrier we have is language, but we manage. I met a person who was deaf and never had the opportunity to speak, learn sign language, but we managed. Just because someone is a different nationality than my own race, which many of my own race I do not trust and they cannot be trusted for whatever reasons, people are people, human beings with hopes, dreams, fears, love, emotions, etc. When all the wars stop, all the people who kill others for no reason, stop, all the world attains world peace, then and only then will we begin to unite, become the unit, an entity of true purpose, which we are intended. The Earth is home to all its inhabitants. I think it is possible that the world doesn’t see Earth as a whole. Instead they see it divided. We have to come together as a whole unit. No more killing. We need to think about how we are going to save our home, Earth. Until everyone gets on the same page, I’m afraid the killing and prejudices are going to continue. We need more good stories like this one. We need love in human beings and in our planet Earth we call home. We need to see that we are ALL unique. For some, they need to stop believing that killing will send them to heaven, or whatever their strange beliefs are that involve, or make killing another person acceptable for no reason other than their beliefs. Now I am starting to rattle, but I think I made my opinionated point. Naomi Shihab Nye’s prose and some of her other poetic works can get people listening, really listening inside to their wondering thoughts and to the beat of their own hearts and get them asking what if, why, how, maybe if, and so on and so forth.

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  622. And here I thought this story was recent. Just goes to show you that human kindness is timeless and all the more needed today with our country’s silly ban on emigrants. We have so much to share with each other and so much to learn. Thank you for this.

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  623. I agree. Politicians make our world ugly.
    People are wonderful and we all have the same wants and dreams. A better world for our children.❤️ Thank you for being such a loving and caring person.

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  627. I love this story…thanks for posting…I have read it before…my favourite bit is “Not a single person in that gate – Once the crying of confusion stopped- seemed apprehensive about any other person….They took the cookies………so sweet and how it is sometimes when we bother to love.

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  630. Thank you. Your heartfelt actions and your story are a beautiful antidote for the callous treatment of foreign people and their languages in our country. Thank you.

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  633. It will never be lost as long as we have beautiful souls as yours to eloquently give us all poetry and life stories like this. You are an angel on earth.
    – Eduardo Magaloni.

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  635. This is normal. Don’t believe anything different. The rude fools are the exception and those poor souls lose out on more than delicious cookies. Too bad, more for me. 😉

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  639. Camille…thank you for that beautiful story
    She is so right, there are wonderful people every where, wonderful times and much love to share. We won’t give up ever.
    Hugs to you and yours
    Aunt Jackie

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  641. Beautiful story!! It really doesn’t cost anything to be empathetic and kind. I’m an ER Nurse and I treat all my patients in this manner. I treat them like I would treat my own family or would want my family to be treated if I couldn’t be there to be their advocate.

    LOL on another note the cookie story reminded me of a recent experience while waiting for a delayed flight. We meet a couple at the only open bar that served food and remained open for the delayed, hungry, thirsty passengers that were waiting. We had great easy, interesting conversation. Finally we boarded the plane and got settled .

    I had a book I had out that I was going to read. But I was seated in the aisle seat next to a couple and noticed the woman was very anxious. (I remembered I had 2 different cookies I had baked and brought on our trip. Both were home made. One was a butter almond cookie with a drizzle of almond confectioners sugar with sliced almonds on top .The other a new recipe pistachio cookie with powdered sugar. )

    The gentleman was seated in middle next to me and his very anxious wife had the window seat. We started talking and found out he was a pharmacist and his wife was deadly afraid of flying, As an ice breaker I brought out the cookies and offered them to them as well. They were starving, and both took a few cookies. I went a few aisles up and found the other couple as well and offered and gave some to them as well.

    Back to my seat I continued conversation non stop with the couple. I believe she was drinking wine to calm her as well. Again we had great easy conversation, sharing stories of travel, grandchildren, careers etc. It was a 4 hr flight and the next thing we knew we were getting ready to land. The couple thanked me, especially the husband for helping her to relax and not think about the flight!!! Time flies when your having fun!!!

    Elaine Auclair Barney RN

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  643. Pingback: Gate A-4 | Using IT

  650. Love, love, love this Naomi Shihab Nye…we met when my now 23 yr old was in kindergarten…you were a lovely, kind individual then, & gratefully, some things do not change! Wishing you & yours many continued blessings & many profound thanks for making the world a little less hostile & a lot more gentle…

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    1. Not exactly certain, but my understanding is that there is hope. Akin to Margaret Mead’s quote:

      Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

      – Margaret Mead

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