This week marked the 18th anniversary of 9/11. It was one of those moments in history where many of us can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when news broke that a plane had flown into the Twin Towers. I was at work when I first heard and I still remember my initial thought…”Some idiot flew his plane into the building”. It took a few minutes to get the full story and more than a few minutes to process the information and finally realize what was actually happening.
As with any catastrophe, good and bad has come out of it.
On that day, first responders along with everyday regular people all became extra ordinary people, and many continue to be extra ordinary people. During the weeks that followed, there was a sense of unity in our country; people took care of one another in the aftermath in ways that we rarely experience.
One of J2’s tenets is Service and we follow that up with “there are no traffic jams along the extra mile”. On that day, despite all the traffic jams, chaos, and confusion, everyone went the extra mile and many continue to do that today. I often hear about random acts of kindness and service. Some of the service is rendered to survivors of tragedy, but many are not. It happens every day when an ordinary person serves a patron with a smile, holds the elevator for a coworker, or drops in on an elderly neighbor.
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” – Douglas Adams
To those extra-ordinary people that go noticed and unnoticed, thank you.
Have a great weekend.
Vijay