Walking out of one of the duty-free shops at Suvarnabhum airport as I hurriedly made my way to the boarding gate the other day, I saw, from the corner of my eye, a man fumbling about his stuff in a rather clumsy manner. People were walking past him, and those closer to where he stood as he tried to retrieve his belongings were oblivious to his predicament.

From where I was at less than 2 arms’ length away, I noticed that his luggage bag had stumbled over while he was trying his darnest to pick his jacket which he had dropped on the floor.  Without thinking, I quickly strode up to him, picked the handle of his luggage for him and handed it back to him.

What surprised me (in a good way) was the expression on his face. His eyes glittered and his face lighted up. And, looking like as if he was in shock that someone actually stopped to help, he thanked me like I just saved his life.While I didn’t think that what I did deserve any standing ovation, I was humbled that my seeminglytrivial action made such an impression on him. His face said it all. He was smiling and appreciative. He has a look of being genuinely shocked.

In turn, I felt good. It felt really fulfilling to be able to put a big smile on somebody’s face from such a small, almost insignificant gesture. I think it made MY day more than I made his.  It was completely unexpected.