The young father stood in line at the layby counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.

He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn't be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.

"She told him, 'No, I'm paying for it,'" recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. "He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn't, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears."

At Kmart stores across the US, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layby accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.

Kmart may be the focus of layby generosity, because it is one of the few large discount stores that has offered layby year-round for about four decades.

These secret santas are also creating a knock on effect.

Lori Stearnes of Omaha also benefited from the generosity of a stranger who paid all but US$58 of her US$250 layby bill for toys for her four youngest grandchildren.

Stearnes said she and her husband live paycheque to paycheque, but she plans to use the money she was saving for the toys to help pay for someone else's layby.

Isn't it great to be reminded of what the Christsmas spirit really means.

The full news article can be found here.

Why do airlines find it so hard to say sorry?

I have been doing a lot of travel lately, and today is no exception, with flying from my home in Melbourne to Brisbane to run a session on teaching leaders in an IT department to tell their strategic story.

Last night in Melbourne was pretty rough weather wise - massive downpours (the wettest September day in 56 years), lightening and thunder. This obviously caused significant travel disruption, with Melbourne airport being severely impacted with a number of postponed and cancelled flights. This meant that a large number of planes, and crew, were not in the right place for their departures this morning.

So for me, this meant a delay of 2 hours to my flight this morning. This has meant I have had to contact my client and move the session back, and for a number of the attendees this has meant that can only come to the first hour of the session. You don't want to incur extra costs by staying the night before, and I thought that by getting a flight which gave me an extra 2 1/2 hours of 'contingency' I would be fine. It was very stressful when this was not the case.

So when we finally get onboard the flight this morning, the announcement welcoming us started off quite well with the cabin crew member explaining the reasons for the delay (see my blog post on the importance of this). It then quickly went downhill.

Comments like; "so you should all feel lucky we are only two hours late", and "I am sure this short delay will not impact anyone", didn't lighten my mood.

However the thing that got me the most - not once did he apologise. The word "sorry" did not cross his lips. Even an insincere, 'you can tell he didn't mean it' kind of apology. Nothing.

I just don't understand why, on two counts. Why did he not say it, and why does it bother me so much?

I know it's not his fault. I know the reasons for the delay. But there is something about the acknowledgement of the impact on me and my day that needed to be said, whether he meant it or not.

This is not a solely Australian airline behaviour. After flying on the 6:20 a.m. London Gatwick to Edinburgh flight every week for nearly two years, and it being delayed more often than on time, not once did I hear an apology. Maybe it's just an airline thing?

I would love to hear people's views on those two questions I posed for myself: Why do airlines not say sorry?, and why does it seem to matter to me so much?

I might have to do some research myself on the power that comes from an apology. I am flying to Newcastle tomorrow morning, I might very well have some time on my hands...