Today I flew to Seattle on the best flight ever (so far, for me)! My co-worker Dave's wife, Julie, is a flight attendent and happened to be scheduled to work on my flight today. We have been aware of this for about a week now. I kiddingly told Dave that I would be very happy to help her serve refreshments on the flight and after that I could pull out my auto-harp and lead everyone in some group singing. So he told that to Julie. Well, when I arrived at the gate today, Julie was already there and promptly introduced me to the other flight attendants. We visited until it was time for them to board the plane.
Shortly after that Julie came back to the podium and waved me up. When I got there, she pulled me aside and told me I had been up-graded and took me on board. [That is the first time EVER that I have been the first passenger on the plane!] Then she showed me to my seat - Row 1, seat #1, First Class. Wow! Is that nice! The seats are very wide and I had lots of leg room. Then Julie brought me delicious hot chocolate that she brought from home. Yum! Soon I was offered another beverage (I chose orange juice). After all of the other 200+ passengers boarded and all of the announcements were made, we were on our way to Seattle.
Pretty soon I was offered a delicious breakfast of quiche, a wonderful hot fruit relish, coffee cake, raspberry yogurt, a fresh fruit plate, and milk. Talk about wonderful! We even had china plates and cups, real cutlery, and a glass goblet. It was so good!
Next the lead flight attendent Ruth, asked if I minded coming to the little kitchen for a minute. Sure, I said. So she took my tray and I got up and proceeded to the little galley. There she and Julie gave me an apron and plastic gloves and asked if I would go through the cabin with a plastic bag and collect any trash. I think they thought I would turn them down, but I was thrilled! It really was fun going down the aisle, looking down each row, and greeting people. I managed to get a full bag by the time I got to the rear of the plane. [I hadn't known that Julie and Ruth had phoned the crew in the back to tell them what they had done and they all thought it was funny that I was working for them.] Once back there, they took my bag and told me I had a long distance call and handed the phone to me. I immediately thought it was Heidi calling from the tower in Seattle, but it was Julie who asked me to get another bag and pick up the trash once more coming forward. I did so, and even took a beverage order from one of the passengers! That part of their job was a lot of fun for me.
Well, the special treatment wasn't over yet. Next Ruth pinned wings on me and Julie showed me a certificate she was completing that showed I was a temporary crew member for their airlines. She said the captain wanted to sign it after we landed. So after all of the passengers disembarked, I got to go into the cockpit, sit in the co-pilot's seat, have pictures taken, and the captain signed my certificate. They were impressed that Heidi is an airtraffic controller at SeaTac.
Chad and Brian picked me up and took me over to the tower where we got to see Heidi for a few minutes. This was the best flight EVER!
3 comments:
That's a great story! Sounds like you had a lot of fun. :-) You earned your wings!
Donna--Looks and sounds like you had a great time in Seattle, but like I tell everyone, "My mother-in-law could have fun or make fun just about anywhere". It's one of those things that I admire about you! Maybe you should consider a career change? I think they could use your cheerfulness on some airlines.
Donna - what a great story! I love reading it! Jodi
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