If strictly guided by stereotypes in forming impressions, then the man who's won the race to space must be as cut-throat and savvy as they come. It's rare to find people whose head lies in the space, but heart is truly down to earth. If an autobiographical short story on social media is anything to go by, Richard Branson literally fits right in.
Karl Connor, commercial manager, while sharing an important episode of his life on the professional networking site LinkedIn, alongside gave a glimpse into the British billionaire, the high-flier and the flamboyant-philanthropist.
"Non-work related post but I feel I had to post it. So a few years ago, my late wife and I went on holiday to Morocco. It was a bucket list holiday when she was ill. One day we were having breakfast in the hotel and Kath said, 'Richard Branson is sitting behind you.' You can imagine my response, it ended in off. So I took the opportunity to say hello and we had a conversation for 5 minutes."
Under ordinary circumstances and with 'ordinary celebrities' five minutes would be a tall order. A fan moment usually never goes beyond a hushed photograph, reluctant selfie, or a scribble in the name of an autograph.
But not with Richard Branson. The post continues, "Later in the day, the hotel manager came over to us by the pool and asked if we would like to join Mr Branson (it was his hotel) for dinner. We of course said yes. We had the most amazing dinner with him and his wife (it was her birthday) and about 10 other people, some well-known, some just ordinary people like us. Kath said, "Listen Richard, I'm ill and I'm not going to be around for long. When is your spaceship ready, I want to come with you. He laughed and said ok I'll find you a seat."
Which he did and how. "Sadly, she isn't around anymore and didn't get to fulfil that dream but I contacted Richard and asked if he could take a picture of Kath and the girls up with him. He wrote back to me and very kindly said yes. Little things make such a difference. What an amazingly kind gesture. Such a lovely man and an inspiration."
The netizens gush over the story of the day
Some true stories bring positivity, inspire, set an example and while at it, break a few judgemental clichés too. Many were floored by the kind gesture. Wrote a user, "I remember well, the day of his space flight when he took this picture with him in the video before the flight. I thought it was the picture of his loved ones. This shows he is a man of his word and kept the promise made."
While the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) might not yet be ready to call Richard Branson an 'astronaut', but Branson became the first billionaire to fly to the edge of space in Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane on July 11. His private suborbital flight made it to space just days ahead of a rival launch by the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Thereby he kicked off a new era and first step towards space tourism.
