Embassies

Twice in the past year, I have had encounters with government embassies.  Both experiences challenged my notion about what I previously believed to be stifled entities.  One experience was in Athens and the other was in Amsterdam.  The necessity for each was due to miscalculations and missteps on my end.

While traveling by train to the Athenian airport to return home, our train stopped.  This is no exaggeration.  The train stopped unannounced for almost an hour.  Not speaking the language, I was baffled until two locals explained that this happens on occasion.  By the time I got to the airport, I was scrambling.  I knew I had no time to get through customs.  As I was waiting in line, I heard an American family lamenting about the cost of having to reschedule five plane tickets because they hadn’t left enough time the day prior for customs and therefore missed their flights.  By this time panic is starting to creep in.  I get to the front counter and tell the representative about my recent woes on the train.  She looks at her watch and then my scheduled departure time.  Her facial expression gives away her concern without uttering a word.  I look at her and say, “I know this isn’t your fault or your problem, but is there any way you can help me?”

Kindness spreads through her face and she said, “It is easier to offer help when someone is nice and asks for it.”  She types away on her computer while reviewing my passport.  At this point I’m unsure what she is doing, but I’ve decided to be positive regardless of the outcome because she is being so generous with me.  I know her job can’t be easy when frequent fliers are often cranky at best.  As I’m contemplating my next step if I miss the only flight out that day to my destination, she hands me a piece of paper.  I ask her what it is, and she says, “You are going through the embassy clearance line.”  Without fully grasping the impact of what she is saying, I thank her and quickly go to customs.  I hand the card to the gatekeeper who then steers me to a line that is essentially vacant save for a few men in line wearing sharp suits.  I’m not dressed the part at all, but everyone gives me utmost care.  Not a single person at the embassy checkpoint treated me with distain because of my disheveled appearance.  I later learn that I received treatment typically given to dignitaries, which is why I catch my flight with minutes to spare. 

The next experience with an embassy was also due to a travel woe: a lost passport.  For several hours, I thought my passport had been lost in the taxi from the airport to the hotel.  I was advised to go to the American consulate as my trip was very short.  Thankfully, the consulate was only a short walk away, so I went to the gate.  Unannounced, of course.  And on a Friday afternoon.  Lovely Kiley. 

The guard behind the gate is a brood of a man and he isn’t cracking a smile upon my arrival.  I proceed to chatter at him nervously about my passport misstep.  Pretty soon, he is laughing at my prose as I recount my day to him.  He asks when my flight is departing back to America.  Sheepishly I tell him that I leave on Monday.  He tries to hide his surprise but can tell that I’m genuinely getting concerned about what I will do.  Afterall, its not everyday that I lose my passport in another country with only a few days to spare.  He then pauses and says, “I am going to see what I can do for you.”  I stand outside the gate for a long period of time and then he returns with a form.  He instructs me that I have been granted an appointment on Monday morning to get an emergency passport created if my original passport doesn’t surface in the meanwhile.  At this point, he is outside the gate because he must hand me the documents.  So, I do what any normal person does with a huge government security guard: I hug him.  The man who previously hadn’t cracked a smile is now grinning from ear to ear.  All because of an interaction tied to a request for help.

The embassy in Greece and the consulate in the Netherlands dispelled my preconceived notions about formal government entities.  But more importantly, both agencies showed what goodness can flow with a simple, sincere request for help.  Most people are abundantly capable and willing to meet us where we are at when we let them into our world.

Changepoints:

Think of a time when you asked for help, and it was bestowed upon you:

·        How did the experience expand your perspective and trust in the value of asking for help?

·        What opportunities do you have to provide help to others, especially when asked specifically for it?

·        What emotional, mental, or physical benefits are tied to giving and receiving help?

·        How does the process of engaging in helpfulness create community among the participants?

o   What stewardship groups exist that you could contribute to?

o   How can you be open to receiving help that would lighten your load so you can then pay other forms of help forward to others?

 

Each of us is a living embassy equipped to partake in helpfulness.

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.