kind·ness

/ˈkīn(d)nəs/ noun the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate

A Perspective on Perspective – Part II

We flew to Miami a day before our cruise started and enjoyed dinner with a good friend. The thing about the past few years of my professional life is that through a very specific opportunity, I earned the most spectacular collection of friends who are scattered around the country (and a few future must-visit locales globally).

They stepped in to fill a void when I needed it the most. And the best part is that I never had to ask. They just knew. When you find a group of people like that, hold on to them like the precious gift that they are. That reminds me of a conversation I recently had with one of them about the friends you make in your 40s, but that topic will be explored more in a different venue.

I am writing this from the patio of our cruise cabin overlooking the waters of Saint-Barthelemy Island. We are on our final day of visiting the ‘Idyllic West Indies’ before we spend a couple sea days en route back to Miami.

While we are on the same cruise ship as our last voyage, the vibe on this one is so different.

Or maybe it’s just that I have changed that much.

We are far from the target demographic, but I have to say, other than a few judgmental looks when travelers of a certain demographic see a tween boy aboard the floating country club, this trip has been truly extraordinary.

Warm Caribbean sun after a blustery Midwestern February has been delightful.

The food has been spectacular. We had shared reservations at the specialty restaurants and had wonderful dining experiences with our new friends from Ottawa, Florida, and Virginia.

But we found our real home on the trivia circuit. The little human likes trivia, and has amassed a fairly ridiculous collection of random knowledge through his YouTube watching, so he’s far better than most people might give him credit for. On one of our first sea days, we ventured to the daytime trivia session and the cruise director was quick to ask him for a few deets.

Within days, he became a mini legend across the ship as people from trivia would pass our table and say hi to him by name. Our trivia teammates gifted him with their prizes, and he’s amassed a large collection of ‘O Points’ thus far. We have 2 more days, so only time will tell what the final tally is.

If there is a priceless memory from this trip, this will be it. He is the only child on the ship. Not a day goes by when other passengers ask where I have been hiding him because they had yet to see ‘the boy’ on the ship.

Ship officers come up to introduce themselves because they have heard so much about him from the cruise director. While he has definitely gotten some special treatment at this point, he has done so with a spotlight directly on him. Imagine an auditorium full of people when all eyes are on you to answer a question that only you get to answer.

He has embraced it with grace and humility. He is typically shy and slow to warm up, but that got tossed out a week ago when he started making friends from everywhere.

Heck, he even got one of the smartest guys in trivia to change an answer last night, and was right in his emphatic fight for the change. He’s holding his own with some brilliant professionals in their respective fields. Not bad for a middle schooler who missed a week of school to go on this adventure.

He doesn’t ‘fit in’ on this ship, yet somehow, he feels right at home.

That’s kindness.

March 17, 2025