From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

This is my unsung hero, stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

I do not know the full name of my unsung hero.

She came straight up to me, she looked me in the eyes, and she smiled.

So whoever you are, thank you so much.

Today's story comes from Caitlin Shetterly.

One day in March 2014, Caitlin boarded a flight from the west coast to Maine to visit family.

As everyone settled into their seats and prepared for takeoff,

Caitlin started chatting with the man next to her. She told him that she had been nervous to fly ever since the 9-11 terrorist

attacks. And then I said something to him about, you know, do you ever get worried? And he said,

you know, no. And he looked at me and he, I just remember this moment

because it was unusual. He turned and looked at me full in the face with complete compassion

and closeness, as if we had known each other for a very long time, and looked right into my eyes

and said, most people are good. It just, like, reset something, almost like a light switch

in my body. It was so powerful to me. And I came home, and I remember telling my husband about it. And seriously,

since then, we have used that line to completely reshape how we teach our sons to think about

the world and think about strangers and think about courage. And as recently as a year and a few

months ago when the shooting happened here in Maine in Lewiston, I overheard my husband in my younger

son's bedroom saying to him quietly, most people are good. That line, those four words, have totally transformed

us and how we react to tragedy and how we react to so many things happening in the world.

I've said it on car rides to friends' kids.

I've said it to other friends.

...