The Kindness of Strangers

I kvetched on Twitter that I had forgotten a coat on my trip to Boston. Several people expressed sympathy and a few commented on my abject stupidity. But then I met Michael Kringsman. You may know him from his ZDNet blog on project failures. He's also CEO of Asuret, a Brookline-based IT consultancy. Michael had tagged along with  James Governor, who set up a meeting with me.  James and I have connected through blogs for years, but had never met.

I invited Michael to come watch SAP's Mike Prosceno and me speak at the SNCR Symposium the next day as my guest. When he returned, he showed up with this beautiful Marmot down-filled blue coat. I asked for an address so I could mail it back and he told me to keep it. He shrugged, saying it was an old coat and was almost gone anyway. The coat is in fine condition as far as I can tell. Since I will probably wear it only for tris from California to the Northeast in Winter, it is likely to last longer than I will.

Every time I wear it, I'll remember Michael's kindness and generosity. I am moved by it.

Comments

[Michael Krigsman]

Shel, Was really great having peppermint tea with you that afternoon (well, you and I had tea, James had a beer). And appreciated the invite to your talk. But, dude, you got my blog address wrong. Here's the correct one:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures

Cheers,
Michael

[shel israel]

How embarrassing, Michael. I apologize and have corrected it.

[Michael Krigsman]

Muchos gracias, Senor!