Family of One Flies Home on a Jet

You will be happy to know that, after the misadventures experienced on the flight to Charleston, I had nothing but a pleasant time on the regional jet to Charlotte. And, being upgraded on the flight to Miami was a lovely surprise on a Friday afternoon. I was feeling unusually wistful about returning home with no plans or no one to see. When I am wistful like that, I try to remember to ask myself--are you really sad or just tired?--and I decided that I was just tired after all of the fun trips to NYC and to my parents' anniversary weekend and to my beloved Charleston. Once I acknowledged my exhaustion, I was very excited about the plane taking off.

Need I say more?

You guessed it--just as the plane was literally ready to take off, we were informed that there was a malfunction in the navigation system and we would have to return to the gate. Visions of getting home the next day and spending the afternoon in the food court filled my brain.

But, very interestingly, the attendants made sure that they were nothing but optimistic and kept us supplied with drinks and lovely conversation. I was very impressed by how they reflected none of the anxiety that was permeating the plane.

An hour later, we were on our way and I could finally start envisioning what I was going to do as soon as I arrived home. But, I wanted a word with these delightful attendants, so I walked up to the galley and told them how much I appreciated their fabulous service, especially in light of what I had been through earlier in the week. They wanted to hear more, so I told them; they returned the favor by telling me how badly behaved some attendants can be. They encouraged me to write to the vice-president of US Airways and let him know about this travesty of an attendant, but I told them that I would prefer to focus on the positive and tell him about their exemplary behavior.

Hugs all around! Smiles abound!! Everyone is happy! No one is making sarcastic remarks about my questions about baggage storage. I hope you are lucky enough to see Tracy Schlor and Dianne Britton on one of your flights. They reminded me of how wonderful it can actually be to take a flight.

And, sure enough, I was just fine when I got home, not wistful, just thrilled to be able to have a very quiet weekend.