12/01/11
Since I’ve been a flight attendant (18 1/2 years) with Southwest, I can honestly say that I have flown as a paying passenger (as opposed to non-rev'ing) only a hand full of times. That has all changed since our weekly flights to Oakland. I always knew I worked for a great company with great people but to be on the other side and experience it as a customer, I am now “full circle” convinced that I do work for the best company in the customer service industry.
Last week when our incoming plane was hit by lightening, it was taken out of service. I explained to Trey that the San Diego Charger hit our plane and that we had to wait for another plane that wasn’t broken before we could fly to Oakland on our Cardinal Bird. The gate agent working our flight had taken notice of Treys interest in the old, broken plane and from where and when we would get the new, working plane. She proceeded to sit him on her lap to give him a front row view of all the changes, not knowing that I was an employee, why we were headed to Oakland and more than that, how much it meant to Trey to be treated like a VIP at mommy's work. Thank you "Miss agent" for going that extra mile and showing Trey so much of the Southwest Love we are famous for! And by the way, those employees in Phoenix that do know me, treat Trey and I like gold week after week.
Although Trey is hooked up to a monitor and and iv pole during his infusion, he is free to use the restroom, go to the craft room, or even just walk around to stretch his legs. Today when Trey asked to go to the craft room to visit with Mr. Randy instead of walking along side his iv pole, he stood on top of it. I thought that was a great idea and told him to "hold on". Trey had all the ladies in the day hospital smiling as he went gliding by the nurses station. Evie joined in on the game which made it twice a fun for Trey as well. Erin took a video and posted in on her Facebook page and although funny, it didn't do the actual moment justice...we were all laughing so hard at the two of them.
I am so thankful for The O'Donnell family for choosing to have Evie's infusions with Trey on Thursday's, the two of them get along like an old married couple!
So today's infusion had a bit of "boy stuff/football" mixed in...which always makes Trey happy. Like I wrote in a previous post, the guys from x-ray are into football and so is Trey. We found out that Mr. Randy had a birthday coming up and we know how much he likes the Raiders. So, I used my cheerleader connection (ThAnK YoU Jennifer Lynne!) and had the Raiderette's sign a calendar to give to Mr. Randy today. Last night I asked Trey if he might want to wear Silver and Black (Raider colors) for Mr. Randy's birthday to show him you are a "good sport" and he said, "NO!" before I could even complete the sentence but then he thought about it and said only if I would...easy enough, almost everything in my closet is a neutral color.
This is the best part...before Mr. Randy could get a break to visit with Trey, Mr. Jake came by with the Chicago Bears lanyard he had made for him! Trey felt so official with the name badge and all! Thank you Mr. Jake for your thoughtfulness and timing! And perfect timing it was, Trey could now "sport" his new Chicago Bears orange and blue to take away a bit from the silver and black shirt he wore. Trey may be a good sport but he's also got his pride, ha-ha! When Mr. Randy showed up, the first thing Trey did was to razz him and show off his new Bears lanyard.
The calendar was a hit and the look on Trey's face when Randy saw the girls on the calendar was priceless. Maybe even more priceless was the comment Trey made afterwards. With a puzzled look on his face, Trey said, "Hey mom, why did we give Mr. Randy pictures of girls? We should have given him the football players instead." I just smiled and thought, one day you'll know why but today I am happy you think that way, my sweet boy!
