Letter from Brazil, Part 3

by Richard Dawkins

Back in São Paulo airport, 24 hours on

Well, vus don’t come much more déjà than this. Back in the airport, waiting for exactly the same plane displaced by 24 hours, having spent the day, at American Airlines’ expense, in an airport hotel almost entirely populated by air crews of many different airlines, clad in a wonderful variety of liveries.

I admit to being  overcome with emotion in the face of human kindness. Thank you, Brazilian employees of American Airlines. I was a bit tetchy with you last night when you wouldn’t let me on the plane. But you were obviously right. And this evening, when I arrived, such kindness, such care. As soon as I approached the American Airlines check-in desk I was pounced on by two women, who had obviously been briefed to look out for me (how did they recognise me, I don’t for a moment wonder). One of them VIPd me through security – and this really mattered because I had surrendered the all important immigration/emigration document last night and would have had trouble with the passport authorities. At every stage, the American Airlines women have been kind and solicitous, apparently alerted to what happened last night by some internal grapevine . Thank you for your humanity.