The Rerouted Skytress

Two Saturdays ago I walked into my local gas station to buy a PowerBall lottery ticket. I had my face mask in my hand ready to put it on to wear inside the shop. The day before we finally had our mask mandates lifted in St. Louis. The mandatory mask mandate sign was no longer on the door. I could see the attendants inside working without their masks on. I clutched my mask and walked inside and bought my ticket. When I walked outside I smiled. It was the first time in over a year I have walked into an establishment without wearing my face mask. It was a small victory for me. I’m always looking for the small victories in my life. The funny thing about small victories, though….sometimes when we look at them more closely….they were huge victories. Yep. Our minds just didn’t comprehend the magnitude of the victory at first.

It was a small victory for me when I stepped on the aircraft after six months of not flying. It was probably a small victory for my family to see me go off to work, too. Hey, I’m just keeping it real, folks. You may recall, at the time, our planes were empty of passengers and supplies. Yessiree, not falling asleep while I was working a long- haul flight with very few passengers was definitely a small victory in my book. Thankfully, our planes are full again. So, now it’s a small victory every flight when we get everyone in their seats. As one of our agents said the other day, “These passengers have seat numbers on their tickets. Yet, they don’t seem to know it.” Thankfully, there are skilled Skytresses and Skyters that figure it all out for everyone. It’s one of our super powers! You may, also, remember another super power we possess is conducting several beverage services without the proper catering. Yes! We still can’t seem to right that catering ship. It’s an amazing feeling when the crew returns to the galley and we have completed several beverage services with meager supplies. We know it’s a small victory. But, darn it. It sure feels like we have won the Super Bowl.

I had a couple wonderful small victories on Tuesday, May 18th, when I headed off to work. First, my coach seat was changed to a first-class seat. Woo hoo! I slept extremely well on my way to Atlanta….Thank you very much. I knew I would be flying with two delightful Skytresses on my trip. I didn’t know the Skyter on our trip. I hadn’t flown with him before. But, cue the victory dance music. When I signed in for my trip I saw my friend JJ was going to be flying with us instead. You can’t have a bad trip if JJ is on it. It’s simply impossible. JJ was a friend of Ron’s. I’ll admit. It’s always special for me when I fly with someone who knew and loved Ron. I told JJ I was going to write about him in my blog post. JJ wanted to know if I was going to write about the time he opened the door to his hotel room and there was a couple already inside the room. The couple was,…well, we shall say…in a compromising position. The gentleman was not happy JJ had opened the door on them. JJ said he turned, hightailed it down three steps and flew down the hallway. The naked man came out into the hallway after JJ. JJ said his plan was to get to the lobby before the naked man got to him. Since this blog post is about small victories, obviously I had to write about this story. After all, JJ did indeed make it to the lobby long before the naked man got to him. Hail, JJ….the Skyter Victor!

JJ and our two fellow Skytresses had a delightful time swapping stories at dinner. Wait, what?! Yes Siree Bob! We ate in an actual restaurant. It was the first time I went to a restaurant with my crew in over a year. What did I have for dinner, you ask? Well, I had shrimp and grits. This was a delicious small victory for me. I love shrimp and grits. No one in my family likes them. Their New Jersey taste buds won’t accept this cuisine. Sad. I know. I proudly make myself grits when I am home. I eat them out of sight from my family. Otherwise, they look at me like I am a Martian that landed in the family room and decided to eat the couch. They just don’t understand grits. Ron used to say one should never make shrimp and grits at home. Nope. You could make grits at home. However, he said, …if you wanted shrimp and grits,…you had to go out for them. I think it’s a southern law or something like that. Ron made fabulous grits. So, if he said you had to go out for shrimp and grits,…we went out for them. Who am I to question a southern boy that loved to cook? My crew and I went to a restaurant called “The Southern Kitchen”. They had every southern cuisine highlight on their menu. The shrimp and grits were phenomenal. If I was in the privacy of my own home I would have literally licked the plate clean. I controlled myself at the restaurant. It had been a year since I went out with my crew. I didn’t want it to be the last time I went out with my crew. I don’t care how wonderful a Skytress or Skyter you are….if you lick your plate clean in the presence of Skyters and Skytresses, ….well, you are going to end up on a few people’s no-fly list.

Another small victory of mine happened a couple weeks ago in Charlotte, NC. How appropriate right? Charlotte is synonymous with victory lane. Heck, there is the Charlotte Motor Speedway. And if you end up in Victory Lane enough times, well you’ll eventually end up in The NASCAR Hall of Fame. Which, if you didn’t know, is also in Charlotte. My small victory actually involves a NASCAR driver. No, I didn’t race a NASCAR driver and win. That would have been an epic victory! No, I had NASCAR driver Ross Chastain on my flight from Charlotte to Atlanta. You may be saying, “Ross who?”. I, on the other hand, was saying, “Woo Hoo Ross!” Ross Chastain is one of my favorite NASCAR a drivers. He’s got spunk. Both on the track and off the track. When he wins a race he smashes a watermelon in Victory Lane. No, Ross Chastain isn’t a Gallagher impersonator. Ross doesn’t use a Sledge-O-Matic to smash his watermelons. No, he simply hurls the watermelon to the ground in sheer delight. His nickname is, “The Watermelon Man”. It sounds weird. But, he comes from a family of watermelon farmers. So, it isn’t weird. It’s actually genius.

I started watching Ross Chastain drive a few years ago. I happened to catch an interview of his after a NASCAR truck race. He told the reporter he wasn’t at the race track to make friends. Nah. He had enough of those. He was there to win races. He said it with a great big smile on his face. It cracked me up. Like I said, he’s spunky. I’m a huge fan of spunky. I was captivated. So, I started to root for him when he raced. Then I saw his crew chief, Mr. Hubba-Hubba. That’s obviously my name for him. His actual name is Phil Gould. Needless to say, Mr. Hubba-Hubba’s handsome looks, also, captivated me. I know it’s a girl thing. But, I became a bigger fan of Ross Chastain because of his good-looking crew chief. V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! For me!

The night before we left Charlotte I was trying to update my Skytress phone. It was taking FOREVER! So, I amused myself by looking over the passenger name list on our flight the next morning. I was gobsmacked when I saw the name, Ross Chastain. I wondered if it was THE Ross Chastain or just someone with the same name. This Ross Chastain was going to Albany, NY. I know. Eh,…Albany. My visceral reaction was it was THE Ross Chastain. So, I just believed and knew it to be true. The next morning when I was heading to our departure gate I received another penny from Heaven. Ooh, another small victory in my book! I took this as a confirmation that THE Ross Chastain was going to be on my flight. And he was!

I’m sure most of our passengers didn’t recognize Ross Chastain because he was wearing the obligatory face mask. Well, the First Officer recognized him as a NASCAR driver. He just didn’t know his name. He gets half credit for that. I was helping passengers when Ross sat down in his aisle seat. I could tell he was listening to messages on his phone. So, I didn’t disturb him. My Skytress duties kept me from socializing anyhow. I know. It was utterly annoying for me. Before I knew it, it was time for me to read the safety PA. I barely got the last sentence out before our Captain told us to get ready for take-off. Gee whizz. He wasn’t helping matters, was he? Then he made those engines purr so much that Ross Chastain fell asleep right after we got airborne. Dagnabit! The flight from Charlotte to Atlanta is so short we don’t offer a service. You guessed it. Time was not on my side. But, do you all remember what I’ve told you for the past year?….What do you bring to a deserted island? A Skytress!….Because we have everything you’ll ever need to survive! Well, well, my dear readers. I reached into my Skytress bag and I pulled out a passenger thank you card. We are supposed to use these cards on our flights to recognize our premium passengers when we can’t speak to them directly. The truth be told, I rarely use these cards. But, dagnabit,….I was going to use the card that morning to write Ross Chastain a spunky note. It was hard to write a spunky note on the small card, too. I literally had to write between the lines to fit it all in. But, by golly, I did. I even wrote his connecting gate information and thanked him for flying our airline, too boot. It was a hurried handwritten Skytress masterpiece. Yes. It was a small victory on my part. Fortunately, on our final safety walk through before we landed in Atlanta, Ross had his tray table down. I nonchalantly touched his arm to tell him I needed to raise his tray table for landing. Then I discretely handed him the card. I have no idea if he read it. It didn’t matter. I spent the entire flight trying to muster up the courage to hand him the card. Writing this note was so out of character for me. I have never done this before. However, I knew it was something I had to do for myself. I knew having Ross Chastain on my flight was a God wink. I knew I couldn’t let this blessing slip through my hands. I was conscious of my luck. I needed to cross the finish line to get to victory lane. Yes, I understood handing my card to Ross Chastain was a small victory. It was later that my mind comprehended the magnitude of the victory.

The odds of me having my favorite NASCAR driver on my flight are astronomical. I didn’t actually do the math because I hate math. But, I know the odds makers in Vegas wouldn’t have taken the bet. Yes, Ross Chastain being on my flight happened for a reason. The odds of JJ being on my trip were significantly better. After all, we are both based in Atlanta. Still, I know JJ was on my trip for a reason, too. I know they were answers to my prayers. No, I didn’t specifically pray to fly with JJ or to have Ross Chastain on my flight. What I did pray for was some excitement to come into my life. You see, I’ve been in the dumps lately. Sadly, I’ve felt disheartened with life and my Skytress career. Say what? Shocking, I know. Yes, lately I’ve been feeling as if my hopes and dreams are slowly drifting further away. I’ve been questioning everything. I’m pretty sure everyone can relate to the fact that sometimes we all wish for a sign confirming that God is listening. Well, JJ and Ross were my signs. More importantly, for me, they both made me smile when I needed a smile. To some this may seem like a small victory. However, I clearly comprehend the magnitude of this huge victory. Yes. God sent me some very powerful God winks. They came right on time. God never ceases to amaze me. To say I’m eternally grateful is an understatement. I know it’s a small victory for God to make me feel better. Yes. It’s true. God specializes in God winks. Eileen winks aren’t as powerful as a God wink. Still, I’m winking right back at him. I like to think I have made God smile in Heaven. Ah, yes. Another small victory for me!