A miracle at 35,000 feet

Guess I'm a sucker for stories of kindness - especially given the horrors this Bush cat is perpetrating on the world. Here's the start of a good story from the Toronto Star:

Air Canada Flight 792, from Toronto to Los Angeles, brought out the worst in someone Wednesday night.

And the best in others.

Soon after the jet reached cruising altitude, the flight attendants came around with drinks. As usual, it was $4 U.S. or $5 Canadian for a drink with alcohol. What was unusual, however, was that the money the flight attendant had been collecting in two small change purses had disappeared. Vanished, while she was temporarily away from the cart.

No one else on board knew what had happened, except the person who apparently had stolen them. But something seemed unusual when the flight attendants passed down the aisle, briefly opening every overhead bin and peering inside.

Then the public address system came on and the employee who had been dispensing drinks, and is personally responsible for that money, came on and said words pretty close to this: "The small purses containing the receipts from the in-flight service have gone missing. If passengers would please take a look around their seats, I'd really appreciate it. I'm a single mother and I'm responsible for that money."

...

I'm sure you can figure out where it's going, but I liked this story a lot.

Going back to find the story at the Star's website, I found this other article of similar stories - letters from readers. Don't know if it's part of a regular series that runs in the paper, but it should be! Here's one:

In October, 1983 I was in a serious car accident with my sister and her family at Bayview and Highway 7. I was unconscious and unable to be removed from the vehicle. My sister was tending to her young ones, who had managed to climb out the back window of the Jimmy truck. As gas was leaking out of the tank onto the roadway, my sister would tell me later while I was in hospital, a gentleman came upon the accident, climbed into the vehicle through the back window and stayed with me until the ambulance arrived and got me out. I understand that I bled quite a bit on this man’s suit due to my head injury. With all the confusion, my sister didn’t manage to get his name. I have often wondered who this ‘angel’ was and would like to take this opportunity to say “Thank you,” your act of kindness has never been forgotten.
Kelly Tunstell, Aurora, Oct. 13

Sometimes it helps to be reminded that the world is not filled with Republicans...