Today was the three flight journey home.  That is the reality of flying into Harrisburg for a reasonable price out of Fargo.  I like the Harrisburg Airport and I like to pay less (not more) for airline tickets – so three flights it is.  The beauty is, they are all short flights.  It is wheels up, beverage service and wheels down.  I like those types of flights even though it requires multiple boardings and de-planings.

I do not love as much the choice I made of a 6 AM return flight as it necessitated an extraordinarily early morning, but that is what you have to do to get home early in the day with connections at different hubs.  On my first flight of the day was a flight attendant named Rhoda.  When Rhoda said her name I immediately thought of the old Mary Tyler Moore Show and Mary’s friend Rhoda.  Rhoda on that show was sometimes brash and bold, but also touchingly vulnerable and lovable.

The flight attendant Rhoda was clearly seasoned in her job and seemed to be a very nice woman from the brief time that I had to observe her.    As those who read my blog know, I am quite the people watcher. This is really true when I am traveling.  I love watching flight attendants and the efficiency with which they do their jobs.  If you fly a bit you will likely agree that most flight attendants (male or female) are typically very nice to airline patrons.  That really is a testament to their dispositions, patience and training as they do have a fairly serious job of maintaining the passengers’ safety and plane’s security.

I dozed the bulk of the time we were in the air – that is my typical behavior when the lights go out for takeoff, it is 6 AM and the night before was one of only a few hours sleep.  I woke up about fifteen minutes before landing, enough time to reorient myself to the goings-on around me.  The end of the flight always has a member of the flight staff sharing some expression of gratitude with passengers for flying Delta and wishes passenger a good rest of the day.  But today’s flight was different.  Today Rhoda made a statement of thanks that I have not heard on a flight for a very long time.

Rhoda took the time to not only thank the military members who currently are serving and who have served, but to also thank their families for their sacrifice.  It seemed to be quite a genuine statement from Rhoda and the folks on the plane clapped when she was done saying it.

After de-planing, I told my colleague Jessica who was also on the plane that I was going to write about Rhoda’s statement today on my blog.  Jessica wondered if Rhoda’s statement was tied to the Delta luggage charge debacle of a week or so ago wherein soldiers were charged astronomical fees based on Delta luggage policy.  The story blew up when a video made my the soldiers went viral on the internet and Delta was forced to respond.

I had not heard of this story (apparently I missed a lot of important news stories while I was preparing for FEMA’s Higher Education Conference).  Jessica wondered if  Rhoda’s statements were a part of company-driven remediation. I didn’t think so, but with two other flights in the day I had time to prove out my theory that the statements came from the heart of Rhoda and not the dictate of Delta.  Indeed, there were no other like announcements on other flights.

Rhoda’s announcement was about Rhoda sincerely wanting to reach out and thank the military and their families.  As a mom of a disabled veteran that makes me happy.  I was particularly touched by Rhoda’s recognition of the family’s cost when they send a family member into combat.  Too often folks forget that this burden is carried by an extended group of people beyond the soldier.  I have to wonder if Rhoda’s statement is generated by virtue of being a parent of military personnel, by virtue of hearing and seeing so many of folks’ stories in planes and airports or simply because she is a patriot at heart (or perhaps it is all of the above).

I don’t know if Rhoda has been saying that on every flight she was been on for the last eight years or so.  I don’t know if she just started saying it recently to represent that the people who work with Delta are not the ones who inflicted the wrong on the soldiers (that was Delta’s corporate luggage policy – which needs a complete re-tooling for a number of reasons, but that discussion is for another day – call me Delta Corporate and I’ll give you the 411 on that).

It doesn’t really matter to me when Rhoda started thanking the military and their families for their service and contribution to the company.  It matters that she did it today on the plane I was on because it was music to my ears.  It is always good to hear recognition that there are folks – Rhoda and those on the plane who applauded her – that recognize and appreciate the cost paid by members of the military and those who love them.  It is a cost that weighs much more heavily on some segments of society than others – a cost that I believe can too often be overlooked…but not today…not by Rhoda.

Day seven hundred and six of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C