As someone who travels a lot, having a good experience while flying is always a plus. Last month, as I mentioned in a previous blog, I had two pretty awful experiences flying on American Airlines. The experiences were bad enough that I, along with my fellow passengers, vowed to attempt to avoid flying the airline again. I also promised myself that prior to any flight in the future, I would meditate and find my Zen so that no matter what happened, I would be able to stay relaxed and literally, enjoy the ride.
Now I would have kept my promise to myself today before getting on my flight to San Francisco, but that would have meant waking up at 3:30AM instead of 4:00AM. Needless to say, I was sleepy eyed and ready for a nap when I boarded my flight on United Airlines with my sister, Julie.
We both felt pretty sure we were going to get some sleep and that I would get some work done, until James and Ellington sat next to us. Barely six o’clock in the morning and the laughs started.
Soon, the flight attendants, one in particular, Joe Roa, joined in the fun, bringing us unexpected snacks and joking around with us.
But joking aside, all the entire crew was accommodating, friendly, warm and in general, made the flight experience as enjoyable as it could possibly be.
When is the last time you had such an experience sitting in coach? At a time when terrorists threats rule the skies along with airline regulations, cut backs, and TSA failures, this type of experience is rare–so rare, that I was compelled to write about it.
It has given me pause. Think about it. How hard is it to be friendly? How hard is it to be polite, to step outside of your own myopic world and engage someone else with a smile, a compliment or a nice gesture? Think about what a better experience you could have in your life in general if more people were like that.
This sort of attitude and demeanor should not be limited to just good customer service. Don’t you think?
Until next time, here’s a shout out to the United Airlines Flight 1268 from BOS to SFO crew:
Joe Roa
Racarra Miller
Diane Frazier
Charlene Hansen
Yan Wong
If you run into any of these folks, give them a big hug for me!
Love,
Dr. Eva
Your laughter was contagious! Hope to run into all of you again! Let’s try for a later flight, not so early in the morning! 😉
Thanks for the hug!
I hope to run into you again Joe! The best fly ever!