Artist forced to toss paints at airport gave up her dream. When she flew back, an employee was waiting for her
'Small act of kindness creates reverberations that impact people's lives and the world around us.'
It's not every day that you see a person helping a stranger without recognizing what a difference that could make in their life. An artist who had to surrender her art supplies at the airport security check-in realized the profundity of an act of kindness when an airport staff member took it upon himself to return her belongings. Yaakov Andrew Cohen (@realyaakovcohen) shared a heartfelt story restoring people's faith in humanity.
Tzippy, the woman, arrived at the airport with all her art supplies in her carry-on luggage. According to the rules, passengers aren't allowed to carry liquids beyond a certain quantity, and so she had to surrender her paints and other art supplies at security. A week later, when she returned to New York, the artist found an airport employee standing at the baggage claim area with all her valuables. "Not only had he kept them for her, but he had looked up her return date and time in order to meet her," Cohen said.
The gesture meant the world to the woman, who wouldn't have been able to replace the old supplies because of her financial situation. In fact, she was considering giving up on her dream of becoming an artist. "This act of kindness was the encouragement and motivation that was needed in order to continue pursuing her passions," Cohen added. When Tzippy shared the story with him, he couldn't help but think about how such small acts of kindness can have a lasting impact on someone's life. He said, "Every small act of kindness creates reverberations that impact people's lives and the world around us."
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A study published in January 2020 in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services found that "despite airport security procedures, airport staff's passenger-centric orientation is greatly appreciated by passengers, and improves their service evaluation judgements," especially given the busy and often chaotic environment at the terminal. While Tzippy could never have anticipated such an above-and-beyond gesture, research shows that such compassion is crucial for the "varied passengers" accessing the location, and makes a marked difference to how they perceive the airline and their experience.
Meanwhile, echoing the sentiments, @ginncindy commented, "What a good person! Great story! Thank you for reminding us that there are decent people all around us." @ejkelly2 said, "God bless that person! Sadly, artists don't get paid enough for their creations, and supplies are extremely expensive. The expression of the human experience is vividly expressed through the arts, and this was proven by even medieval art." Praising the airport staff member, @seay.erin pointed out, "I love the way he saw her value and made an effort; excellent example of customer service."
@jo.jo3725 wrote, "Everybody can do small acts of kindness, but will you take that little bit of effort to help out another person? These small acts of kindness can change another person's life! These so-called small acts of kindness are not so small to the person receiving them; they are huge, and I am so grateful for the different things people have done for me. I try to do acts of kindness to others whenever I am able to! Sometimes it’s just listening and giving encouragement." @moragteddy wrote, "Love it; kindness costs nothing but is priceless to those who receive it and costs nothing to the giver, so why not? Please, just be kind, thank you!"
You can follow Yaakov Andrew Cohen (@realyaakovcohen) on Instagram for more such heartwarming stories.
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