I sat there looking at him sitting across from me in the lounge at the airport this morning. A dark weathered age-worn face, cotton shirt thinned from years of wear, faded wide suspenders, and rumpled too loose jeans tied with a brown belt. He was sitting near the window in a cream-colored leather chair, coffee cup in hand, staring through his glasses at the runway. I tried to imagine his life. A little old lady in a similarly thinned flowered dress sat quietly in a matching chair next to him but didn’t seem to pay him any mind. But you knew they were together. You just knew. Probably long retired and traveling now to the big city. Imagine my shock when, still staring out the window, he began to talk out loud (note Bluetooth over left ear hidden by shaggy cow-licked gray hair) about security systems at NASA giving instructions that sounded fit for CIA agents. I was mesmerized by this contradiction of a man. The absolute poster child for not judging by appearances. Munching on my cinnamon bagel and drinking my own coffee, I sat there enthralled by this obviously powerful, intelligent and articulate man barking orders while sitting there looking like someone’s elderly sweet little grandpa. Yet another strike for taking the time to study situations from all perspectives and getting to know people before coming to conclusions about them and even then realizing there’s probably a lot we just aren’t privy to. We all know that but how many still find themselves believing one perspective on a relationship, event or situation without ever gathering information from others involved. Even after having been painfully misjudged ourselves. Too many. Pondered this age-old lesson on the plane ride north for a while, at the personal, political and business level. From Michael Vick, Tammy Faye Baker, Bill Clinton, to O.J. to my college study mate until I gave myself a slight headache, finally falling into a snuggly (is that a word?) plane numbing nap. Brain pleasantly re-booted by arrival time.