The following anecdote was just posted on Facebook by an old high school friend of mine...who, as it happens, I hadn’t actually had contact with since high school until during my recent ill-fated County Commissioner campaign (he turned out to be moderating a meet-the-candidate event I attended at the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit). He’s given me permission to repost in full.
I strongly advise reading it to the end:
Was on a flight back from Europe. There was an announcement asking for a doctor to come back urgently to the galley. Now I am a dermatologist and I know how much we do. However acute CPR is not our strong suit.
The flight attendant called again so I went back. I saw a passenger on the ground who looked pale. I did the usual checklist and she was responding. While kneeling down another physician came up. He was an anesthesiologist and I was sure glad to see him. At that moment one of the flight attendants asked for my credentials which I always have with me. However, the other flight attendant corrected them and stated that was not needed per Delta policy.
The passenger slowly came around and we all got her back to her chair. The younger physician kept checking on her while also watching his young baby. At one point I went to check on her and looked at my colleague across four chairs. I caught a passenger from the corner of my eye develop a sense of fear. At that moment I realized I was talking to bearded man and he was talking back to my dark skinned bearded face.
I went back to my seat and saw the Delta attendant reassure the concerned passenger. I was waiting for someone to raise a fuss. Two American Muslim physicians helping a patient. The delta flight attendant eventually came and I was preparing for the worst. The attendant sat down next to me and offered a free voucher for my work. I refused but he insisted. I could see the younger physician checking on the passenger while his wife watched the baby.
I then realized just how lucky we all are. Life is not the comments section of the newspaper. There are many good people who look at you for your actions. These Delta flight attendants work their tail ends off. They cared for this passenger and reassured the concerned passenger while also respecting us. Not an easy job.
This team was made up of white and a few black members. They did their job well and I thank them for it. Not every story involving Muslims and planes ends poorly. There are so many good people in our country and in the airline industry. Thank you Delta flight attendants. You do a remarkable job. Call me if you ever have skin problem. I am more in my element there.
With all the horrible incidents of hate crimes and blatant stupidity we’ve been reading about recently, I figured it’d be nice to take a break and remember that there’s plenty of good people in the world as well.