Interesting life lesson from an unexpected source

About a month ago, on a flight from Denver to Columbus, the man sitting next to me says ‘Have you got to the part about the drug dealers and their moms?’ I had no idea what he was talking about. The reason was, he was referencing my book ‘Freakonomics’, and I had not got to that part yet. We had some good discussion about the book (what I had read so far), and then promptly put on our headphones and did our own thing.

Upon arriving in Denver the following week, we stops me and asks ‘Have you read that part yet?’. I had actually just finished reading that section. It was very interesting, and I can see why he really wanted me to read it.

We both realize now that we are on each others weekly flights. So today, leaving Columbus, I smile at him and ask him how his week was. About 2 minutes later, he comes to my seat and hands me a book. He says ‘I know we had some great discussion about Freakonomics, so I would really like you to read this book. Its only about 90 pages, so you can probably read it on the flight,’. Now, its pretty rare that you get someone that would do something like that, so I really didn’t know what to say. He explained a little bit about the book, and then just left. Being how the conversation left off, I was unsure if I had been given a book to keep, or he expected me to read the book on the plane and give it back. I knew I wouldn’t be on the flight to Columbus again, so I felt obligated to read the book. The book was pretty good. Its one of those books that really just gets you thinking.

The book was called ‘Poke The Box by Seth Godin’. 

The book started off with this:

‘The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo’

The book ended with this:

‘There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. Not going all the way, and not starting.'

The book ended up being about Failure, and reasons you should not be afraid of it. I don’t want to give too much away, but I say, ‘Read It!’

I ended up getting one of my business cards out of my backpack and putting my personal email address on it. When I went back to use the bathroom, I gave him the book, thanked him, and told him that I really enjoyed it. We landed back in Denver, and the nice man told me ‘If you liked the book, you should really keep it!’ I thanked him and accepted the book. I saw a business card in it and said ‘I actually left you my business card in it’, he looks at me kinda funny and says ‘That’s actually mine, for you!’

It was really nice to have an experience like that. Stanton, if you ever read this (which I doubt because I wouldn’t necessarily invite you to read my blog), Thank you very much!