I was flying to across the county for a conference. I selected my window seat at the kiosk at the airport and noticed that I had an empty seat next to mine. The flight was mostly full but I got lucky.

I was sitting at the gate waiting for my flight when I over heard a conversation between the gate agent and another passenger. It was a young mom who was flying with a young child (less then 1). She could have just had the child sit on her lap, but had made the decision to pay for an extra ticket in order to not be as cramped. When she checked in for the flights the two seats that she had been assigned were at opposite ends of the plane. Obviously the baby could not be by itself, so now she was paying for a seat she could not use. The gate agent said there was nothing they could do.

After watching the frustrated conversation, with no resolution in sight, I approached and interrupted. She could switch seats with me. Her child could be assigned to the empty seat that was next to me. She would have her two seats together and I would get sit in a middle seat somewhere else. It sucked, because I'm not a small dude, and this was a long flight, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, I knew that I would be magnificently blessed for my choices.

When we arrived at my tropical destination I went to the conference, ready to reap my blessings. It turns out the conference had been cancelled and the organizers had neglected to tell me. My boss told me to turn around, get on a plane, fly back across the country and get back to work.