Deze mail werd me toegezonden door een Sri Lankaanse vriend die in Londen woont. Ik heb geen tijd om hem helemaal te vertalen, dus heel kort samengevat :
In 1988 wil een pas gehuwde vrouw een vliegtuig nemen om haar man te vervoegen in Noorwegen, haar bagage is veel te zwaar, ze moet 103 dollar bijbetalen. Dat kan ze echter niet, ze huilt, wil haar belangrijkste zaken uit de bagage er uit halen, tot een man achter haar zegt dat hij de toeslag in haar plaats wil betalen.
Een dag later, na aankomst, stort de vrouw het geld vanuit Noorwegen terug, en wie bleek die behulpzame man geweest te zijn? Barack Obama. Destijds nog een totaal onbekende student. Twintig jaar geleden was ook voor Obama 103 dollar een flinke hoop geld want hij begon toen net aan zijn rechtenstudie.
Zelfs al ken je niet voldoende Engels probeer onderstaand bericht toch even te lezen, het is echt de moeite.
Onderaan het bericht een foto van de dame met de brief die ze destijds terug kreeg van Obama om haar te bedanken zijn 103 dollar terug te sturen.
Oct 05, 2008
The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge. The blog 'Leisha's Random Thoughts' has translated the story.
It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband. When it was finally Mary’s turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
- “You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway”, the man behind the counter said.
Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
- “I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions”, says Mary.
As tears streamed down her face, she heard a 'gentle and friendly voice' behind her saying, 'That's okay, I'll pay for her”. Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
- “He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?”
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
“He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants,” says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.
Who was the man? Barack Obama.
Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at the airport may be the next President and has voted for him already and donated 100 dollars towards his campaign.
- “He was my knight in shining armor”, says Mary, smiling.
She sent the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.
Mary even convinced her parents to vote for him:
In the spring of 2006 Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.
And Obama replied:
In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped ʽUnited States Senate, Washington DCʼ, Barack Obama writes:
‘I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. Iʼm happy I could help back then, and Iʼm delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator’.
The parents sent the letter on to Mary.
Mary says that when her friends and associates talk about the election, especially when race relations is the heated subject, she relates the story of the kind man who helped out a stranger-in-need over twenty years ago, years before he had even thought about running for high office.
UPDATE: Thanks for your responses, folks! Also, remember this was 1988, when 100 dollars was quite a bit of money, compared to today's value. Truly a wonderful story, and something that needs to be passed along in the maelstrom of fear-and-smear politics we are being subjected to right now.
The Ladner Report.
Wil je het artikel doormailen naar vrienden, dan kan je het gewoon kopiëren van mijn blog. Het imago van politici wordt tegenwoordig al vaak genoeg besmeurd door roddels, het goede nieuws mag ook eens de ronde doen.
:-)
