I didn't get a PM so I must assume the Captain I saw that day in ATL is not a member of APC or too modest to call attention to himself.

However, I am pleased to see the direction this thread has taken. The title of the thread was deliberately nuanced in that it can be read to mean I am looking for a particular person, or it could be a rhetorical question about yourself and your own behavior, motivation and initiative.

I have found that many times, it doesn't take much to lend a hand and this little bit of help makes a tremendous difference to someone else. My philosophy is that if I can help, why not do it? I'm sure that one day, I will need some help and hope that someone would do for me what I try to do for others.

This discussion reminds me of the time I was waiting in CPH for a connecting flight to Budapest. I saw an elderly man from India staring at the monitor obviously confused about where to go. I went up to ask him if I could help. He said he just arrived from New Delhi and was looking for the flight to Bergen to visit his son, who was living and working there. Checking the monitor, I saw that the flight was boarding ... and in a gate far away. So I grabbed the man's arm and his little carry on and did our best OJ Simpson run through the airport, dodging fat businessmen and strollers along the way. At the gate, I practically shoved him into the hands of the agents, but he made it. I still think about him sometimes and hope he had a good visit.

Another time in Dulles, the customer service agent near my gate asked if anyone nearby spoke [a foreign language]. Since I happen to speak that language, I went over and interpreted a little bit for some guy who had just arrived from somewhere and didn't understand they did a gate change on him and that he'd better do his own OJ Simpson real quick.

My point is that whether you are flight crew, ramper, or passenger, it's a good thing to help out someone else whenever you can. If nothing else, it feels good and beats sitting there watching CNN.