“I can’t get it in.”

It’s 6:00 in the morning and I’m sitting in the familiar blue chair on Delta Airlines, struggling to get my backpack under the seat in front of me.

I’ve done this thousands of times, and I always pack my bag the same way.

Why won’t it fit?

And then I realize the seat in front of me houses the electronics for the screens built into the back of our seats. It’s taking up half the space where my bag should go.

I’m sweating and starting to panic as passengers flood the aisle and I realize I’m trapped until boarding finishes.

To make matters worse, I’m sitting in Comfort Plus, an upgraded section of the main cabin that I paid for.

Then, a voice appears:

“More like comfort minus, right?”

I burst out laughing as I turn to meet the gaze of an older gentleman in a business suit. He’s smiling and we introduce ourselves. His name is Stanley.

Before long we both realize we’re both business consultants, although he has decades on me, and with that experience comes a wealth of wisdom.

For the next 3 hours we swap stories and share laughs. By the end I’m asking his advice on some of the trickier problems I’m solving for clients, and he gives invaluable suggestions, not to mention encouragement.

We touch down and taxi to the gate. Just before arrival, Stanley says,

“You know Brian, this was so great. This job is so lonely. It’s rare to get to talk to someone who understands. Thank you.”

The Gift

Our world is increasingly distracted and disconnected. Despite the hordes of technology designed to keep us connected, most of us feel alone most of the time.

And as Zach Braff once said as the character JD on Scrubs, “There’s nothing worse than feeling alone when you’re surrounded by people.”

The people you pass by every day are hurting. They’re lonely. They are desperate for human connection, for someone to see them and recognize their value as an individual, not merely a cog in society’s relentless machine.

Today, give a stranger the gift of human connection.