My 9/11 Lesson In Humility

In 2001 I was rich - and boy was I arrogant. I believed I had all the answers. I strutted around like a peacock on steroids, issuing directives to my minions and loving the sound of my own voice.

I stopped over in Hong Kong for 24 hours, and got a lightweight summer suit from my tailor in Central. Then on to Taipei for meetings with my team and a new phone supplier. My new suit hid my rolls of fat, and I felt smart, successful and significant.

In no uncertain terms I showed our new supplier who was boss and they gave me a vase, as a mark of our new partnership. I threw it in the bin at the airport. My team got a tongue-lashing and off I went.

Next stop Manila, but I had to go back through Hong Kong and get a connection. The Jumbo jet flight from Taipei to Hong Kong was only an hour but they still provided a full dinner service. It was a bit of a rush. I had a bulkhead seat and as the stewardess approached me with a plate of something rich and creamy, she tripped on the carpet and the meal ended up in my lap, all over my new suit. I went ballistic.

"Oh my God, look what you've done, you stupid cow. All over my brand new, very expensive, tailor made suit. You should be fired."

She started crying and I laid in more. The cabin director came over and started shouting at her. They did what they could to mop it up. I exaggerated the cost of the suit - they promised to get it cleaned, send it anywhere in the World and buy me new trousers and a jacket when we landed, which they did.

I fumed all the way to Manila. How could this happen to me?

I got to my hotel at a little after 10.00pm, and having calmed my shattered nerves asked if the restaurant was still open.

"Sir, we've closed the restaurant for tonight, but we're still doing room service. I expect you'll want to go straight to your room and watch the TV."

Strange.

I got into my room, the TV was on and I watched in horror as first one plane and then a second ploughed into the twin towers in New York. It had happened just over an hour ago. I sat glued to the screen all night.

2,997 people died in 11th September 2001 attacks on the twin towers, and countless thousands were injured. Tens of thousands more were directly affected by the loss of a loved-one. Among the deaths was my friend Mike McCabe; our children went to same school when we lived in New Jersey and he and his family were gracious enough to accept us into their beautiful home and their lives. Mike was on 104th floor of the North Tower when the plane hit.

Now my trouser experience suddenly seemed so petty. A damaged item of clothing isn't your life. Mistakes happen, but I'd pumped it up, as the self-important, arrogant twat I'd become.

I wrote to Cathy Pacific and apologised for my outburst - hoped the stewardess was recovered, and I made a donation to a Hong Kong children's charity.

That fateful day changed my life. Decades later I still grieve for Mike and his family. I shed a few kgs and lost the arogance. People do their best, and on few the occasions they fall short what they need are words of encouragement so they do better next time. Not some idiot with a big mouth and an inflated view of himself.

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