Originally Posted by
FreeOwl 
To me... The really odd thing is how the majority of people wouldn't help or offer so much as a kind word.
There's a huge difference between asking, "Hey, buddy, you ok?" while he's between vomiting and asking that (when he's out of the stall) while offering your business card, asserting that you think he's an an alcoholic who needs help.
Originally Posted by
Venecia I think it's because we're cut from a different cloth, Free Owl, the "been there" one. I suspect there's only limited sympathy out there among those who've not walked a mile in our shoes.
What cloth would that be, the cloth of presumption? This is really the wrong forum to suggest people who wouldn't do this haven't "been there" nor haven't walked a mile in your shoes (in 29 years of abusing alcohol, I've walked in pretty much everyone's shoes at one time or another...)
If the guy puking his guts out before getting on a plane is due to alcohol, then that's reminder enough that he needs to start making better choices. He doesn't need a guy, who he certainly will perceive as self-righteous, telling him that he's been there and that there's a better way in life. If he's a drunk, then he already knows that. Sobriety isn't a secret.
That said, I don't necessarily think a douchey prod from a stranger is a bad thing, but I don't see the scenario in the OP as having certain conditions met for it to be appropriate, imo, but whatever....