Never judge a book by its cover. We have heard this saying since we were children, but it is often hard to practice in real life. A person’s outward appearance has a huge impact on their first impression, and the opinions formed during this first interaction can be hard to overcome. This man learned the value of not judging others by their looks from a fellow passenger on an airplane. His story proves that true beauty exists on the inside.
The man sat in his seat and prepared for his flight to Hong Kong. He had never met the woman he would be sitting next to for six hours, but when he saw her his face dropped. She was a larger woman, and as she slowly dropped down into her seat, he dreaded their upcoming time together. “Positioning herself comfortably, she plopped her enormous arm on our common armrest,” he wrote to God is Hip. “Her immensity saturated the space around us, shrinking me and my seat into insignificance.”
Needless to say, he already had in his mind what he thought was a thorough understanding of the woman. But he couldn’t have been more wrong. Although this passenger was outwardly judgmental, the woman did not let it phase her. She treated him with the utmost kindness.
She had to say “Hello” twice, because the man ignored her the first time. She introduced herself as Laura. She then asked him where he was from and guessed Japan. He curtly said, “Malaysia.” Although he was turned away from her, the new passenger continued her efforts in making conversation.
“I’m so sorry!” Laura exclaimed. “Will you accept my heartfelt apology?…If we’re going to spend six hours side-by-side on this flight, we’d better be friends, don’t you think?”
The man was reluctant to agree. He responded to her many questions and stories with only one-word answers, but as time passed he began to notice something unique about her. “Unperturbed by my coldness, she nodded as she made appreciative comments to my answers,” he shared. “Her voice was warm and caring. She was considerate and obliging when we were served drinks and meals, making sure that I had room to maneuver in my seat.”
As the flight continued the man noticed that Laura was a bright light to the people around her. She made every staff member laugh, and the people seated around her were drawn to her. To the man’s surprise, “by the end of the flight, almost half the cabin crew was standing near the aisle by us, laughing and joking with Laura.”
Finally, he asked her about her weight. Laura startled him when she explained that she did not want to lose weight. “You’re liberated only if you’re comfortable about who you are, and what you look like any time of the day and anytime of the year! Why would I want to waste my time on slimming regimes when I have so many other important things to do and so many people to be friends with?. . . God gives me so much happiness that I need a bigger body to hold all of it! Why would I lose weight to lose my happiness?”
The male passenger was humored by Laura’s logic, but he learned something valuable from her during that time. After watching the way she brightened the day of each person she interacted with, he reached a conclusion he had not expected.
“Laura was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life,” he declared.
This man learned a lesson about beauty during his flight. True beauty is so much more than skin deep. Laura is proof that it is what’s on the inside that counts.
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