Each night on board, Sixthman has a 20-30 min meeting to collect us from a day full of events and shows and to connect on what our goals and “moments of truth” for the following day will be. We take turns sharing stories and things that happened to us through out the day that stood out or made an impact on us; the good, the funny, the make you want to cry moments. I just finished ushering the main lounge show, which was Brandi Carlile’s second set and found my moment.
On Cayamo, our headliners rotate, playing a different time slot to a different audience each night, allowing every guest to see each artist. I was standing in the center of the room about three quarters of the way up. Not to say there is a bad seat in this room, but I wasn’t standing in the front row. Over the course of a few minutes I caught pieces of the conversation two women sitting next to me were having. I could hear the words – Brandi, awesome, ohmygosh I can’t wait, Brandi, incredible – and while not eavesdropping it was pretty clear they were about to see the show they’ve been waiting for. I smiled and continued to help some other guests to their seats. About 5 minutes to show time, I saw a couple approach the two women and at first the thought of double seating came to mind, then I thought they were buddies and THEN I saw the two women get up and walk themselves down to dead center of about the fourth or fifth row with these ginourmous grins on their faces. Curious, I asked the couple who were now up in my section if anything was out of order or if I could help. With out an ounce of bragging they simply told me that in line for the show, they too had heard the women talking about how much they loved Brandi and when they saw that their seats were “better positioned” then the Brandi fans they asked if they’d like to switch. “No biggie” they said – “we were just returning the favor”. Apparently a new Cayamo friend had given them second row tickets to their favorite, Lyle Lovett, the night before.
I’m not sure I have to go into much more detail about how that made an impact on my day and why it was my moment. The community and kindness on this ship is out of control and if the world lived like we do on Cayamo, it would just be a better place.