I was traveling recently by plane to a PMI Rochester Chapter Professional Development Day. I checked in, got my boarding pass and went to Security. The agent looked at my pass, then looked at my driver’s license, then looked at my pass again. “Is there something wrong?” I asked as he continued to study both. “Yes, ” he said. This is not you! It’s someone from Iraq! I looked at the at boarding pass and sure enough, it wasn’t me!” I was shocked and realized that his attentive response had really prevented possible problems. I felt very secure knowing that the  security agent had been doing his job and doing it well. That made me feel very protected. He had also very courteously told me that I should go back to the ticket counter, get a new pass and that I then would not have to wait on line again for security. I was pleased to hear that, got the mistake corrected and came back with a smile. He was happy the situation had been worked out as well.

When I had gone through security, I asked for a manager and told him that I wanted to acknowledge the agent, whose name, I was told, was Richard Brown. They gave me a form to fill out, which I did and went on my way. Shortly after, I received two emails. First, with his permission, here is the one from Gary Lainis, Stakeholder Manager of the Transporatation Security Administration:
“Thank you for taking the time to inform us of your recent experience at LaGuardia Airport. It has always been a key objective of the Transportation Security Administration to provide our passengers with a secure and enjoyable travel experience and it was a pleasure to read your complimentary remarks concerning the performance of the Transportation Security Officer Richard Brown.

I will ensure your remarks are shared with Officer Brown and I am certain that he will be pleased to learn that his professionalism is both noticed and appreciated.

Yours truly,

Guy Lainis

And then I received this email from Richard Brown himself:

Hello Ms. Judy Umlas, my name is Richard J. Brown, I work at LaGuardia Airport and I just would like to thank you very much for the complimentary e-mail that you sent to my boss.  I was very surprised to get a letter from a passenger about my work here at TSA, as I have never gotten a letter from any passenger in the past. I would like to say thank you very much. It meant alot to me.. again thank you and I hope to see you again..

peace and  love

Richard and I have been in touch, and he has asked me for an autographed copy of The Power of Acknowledgment, which of course I will send him. He also wants to share it with his elderly mother which I am thrilled about. I plan to invite Richard to be on one of my webinars so I can introduce him, as a testimonial to the power of acknowledgment.

Try it — you just have no idea what the profound effects of a simple, quick action you can take anywhere at any time will be. If we all do that, imagine what the world will be like! Let’s do it!