Dear Readers,
Personal power is not always visible, but you can be sure that all the so-called "Nobodies" of this world have it.
It was a sudden storm, dark and mean. Dawn at the San Francisco airport and I have no umbrella, so I yank up my collar, waiting for the large, obviously wealthy man in front of me to stop yelling at the skycap.
"Old man, the reason you're still lugging bags is because you're slow, stupid, and you don't listen. This is going with me onto the plane!"
"Sir, that bag can't be carried on. It won't fit under the seat or in the bulkhead. Airline regulations say I've got to tag it."
Mr. Big and Wealthy threw his shoulders back.
"I'll tell you again ..." And so he did. Louder. Slower. With venom in his voice.
"Sorry, Sir, but I could lose my job ..."
"You sure as hell will lose your job if I miss my flight! Do you know who I am?"
Though I couldn't hear who the passenger was the skycap seemed impressed and off he went, cashmere coat tails flying, Italian black leather shoes racing, elegant brief case clutched in one hand, the much disputed suitcase in his other. His body roaring both fury and triumph.
As I stepp up to check in I compliment the skycap on keeping his temper. He's an old man and it was embarrassing to witness the browbeating he took.
"Oh, it's nothing'. Nothin' at all. He's a really important man, full of worries and short on time. Ummmmmm, yas. A powerful man."
The skycap bends over, tagging my bags as he speaks. Then he pauses, raises his body slowly, with dignity, until he looks me full in the face. His smile lights up the sky. His eyelids blink a few times, relishing his vision.
"Ummmmmm, yas. A powerful man, goin' to London. Then, he winks at me. "His bags? They're goin' to Argentina."
"You didn't!"
"Yup! I did. I sure did. Won't he be surprised."
(This is just a reminder from a little old lady who wants the Best Western/Dry Creek Inn in Healdsburg, California to have compassion for people with disabilities. It's a Human Rights issue. They, and the city that gives them a permit to rent rooms, have got to provide a few rooms that comply with Federal law.)
Anne
A Little Old Lady in California
12/3/09
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The thing we don't realize about power is that everybody has it. The skycap has it. The hummingbird has it. The blogger and letter writer has it. The toll taker who smiles back exercises a kind of power that can be more influential than a gaggle of critics. If you look around the world and don't see your own power, look closer, then act in accord with what you value. Could it be that sometimes the real power is in the acting, not in the result?
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