This Is Your Lucky Day!

On a recent flight to the U.S. from Switzerland I was seated towards the front of the plane for the 11-hour flight. As is often the case when I fly, I boarded the plane early and stood next to my place and watched passengers as they boarded.

More often than not travellers think that I am one of the flight attendants. This is probably because my travelling attire is a navy blue pantsuit. Passengers ask me all kinds of questions that I sometimes answer. I pride myself in knowing that row 46 is most assuredly towards the back of the plane, etc. There are also some destinations that I prefer because of the attitude of the travellers from those areas, especially in Midwestern U.S. People from those regions bring basic values on board with them. They are happy to help others and are exceptionally polite to the flight attendant’s double – me.

As often happens on full flights, families get separated with seats scattered throughout the aircraft. This happened on one of my flights to Minneapolis from Amsterdam. A grandfather was seated alone in the center section where he would definitely need assistance to get out. When one of the daughters started showing stress over the situation, the young woman next to the grandfather smiled and said that it would be no problem. She would take care of him. She and the grandfather, who were just across the isle from me, had such a good time that neither even slept. And, when it was time to disembark, the elderly gentleman would offer his arm only to his young seat mate to help him out.

Let’s now return to the front of the plane on this same flight. Two rows in front of me was a couple sitting together and chatting. Shortly a woman came and announced loudly to the man, “I think you are in my assigned seat!” It was an excellent seat with extra legroom so I anticipated that he might try to keep it. Indeed he did, but not in the way that one would anticipate. He leaned towards the woman and said, “I am, and this is your lucky day! I have just bumped into this old friend of mine and since I would like to sit with her I am offering you my assigned seat – in business class.” She obviously did not argue, but graciously accepted the exchange.

I like his expression. “This is your lucky day”. So often unexpected experiences do transform our day into a “lucky day”.

Bonnie Fatio