The compassion of a Bedouin tribe

I wasn't sure at first if the History channel's new show Chasing Mummies was going to be good or not.  After watching a few episodes of it though, I'm hooked.  I still think it would be better if they focused more on the history and less on Dr. Hawass' short temper, but overall it's been a decent show.

In last night's episode, Hawass and a few others were own their way to a site and got stopped by the military.  They were told they couldn't pass that day.  So instead of driving back, Hawass decided they should just drive out in the desert and camp.  Allan Morton, one of the archaeologists, wasn't feeling well and Hawass instructed one of the archaeological fellows to return to the jeep and get some food.  The food had spoiled though -- apparently meat can spoil in as little as 2 hours in the desert.

To solve the problem of having no food in the middle of the desert, Hawass approached a Bedouin tribe and asked if they could give them some food.  The Bedouins agreed to help and proceeded to slay one of their camels for a feast (much to the dismay of Lindsay, one of the archaeological fellows, who had just been petting the camel five minutes earlier).  That evening, they all ate, and since Hawass didn't really have anything to offer them in return, he gave them his hat.

From the time they were approached until the time they parted ways, the Bedouins seemed to be honored to help.  They could have ignored the plea for help or grudgingly agreed to help and acted like it was a big inconvenience, but they didn't.  They appeared to be glad to help and accepted a hat in return for their assistance.  I was thinking, what if everyone had that type of attitude?  What if everyone had that same level of compassion?  I think the world would be a much better place.