The obligation of Tikkun Olam

Three years ago today, I was visiting Georgia Tech. I was supposed to fly to visit Carnegie Mellon that afternoon. I had just checked out of my hotel at about 8:45 that morning and stowed my baggage with the bellhop when I saw the television in the lobby.

Well, you can figure out what I saw on television.

It took me until Friday to get back home to Southern California. I didn't make it out to Pittsburgh until the following April. The professor I was to visit at CMU was en route from London and was diverted to Newfoundland (where he stayed for a few days). Not to mention one of the three planes crashed in Pennsylvania.

For those days when I was stranded, I'll never forget the kindness of those people at Georgia Tech who put me, a relative stranger as a propsective PhD student, up not knowing how long I'd be there. If I ever have the chance to repay that generosity to anyone in similar straits, I will certainly do so.

And, perhaps that's a lesson to learn while we look back and wonder how we can repair the world - tikkun olam.

[/random] permanent link