It's not all smiles on Southwest

Happiness really is a choice

My friend Kellie Graham responded to my “Got happiness?” blog with the following true story of her experience on a Southwest flight: 

“I thought you might appreciate this experience that I had with Southwest, and I think it ties right in with your blog. 

“I flew Southwest LAX to SLC just after flying from Australia to LAX. I only had an 90 minutes between flights (not enough time). I was flying home for some sad family things. I also just so happened to be in my first trimester of pregnancy and feeling quite sick, running on virtually no sleep, and needing food. I was running the whole way to make it, and my name was being called to the gate. 

“I was the last person on the plane. I apologized profusely to the attendants and plopped down in the first seat I saw and clicked my belt. I quickly grabbed my food and water from my pack and began to frantically eat. The lady sitting next to me, who happened to be a [Mormon] Relief Society President in California quickly turned in to me and started fussing and mothering. Ironically, she was headed to Utah to take care of pregnant/sick daughter. 

“There were two flight attendants, one male and one female. Every time the female attendant went past me, she sharply told me to make some corrective action: put on your belt (it was on), tighten your belt, move your bag, move the strap on your bag, etc. I felt so bad each time. I quickly did what she asked all the while consuming my food, which is all I cared about. Every time the male attendant went past, he made some joke or did something silly. (He could have been your friend.) He even tried to steal my food, which would have been a mistake.

“My new friend sitting next to me made the comment that it was the strangest behavior. Both were singling me out but in different ways. One was probably agitated at me for various reasons and likely had all kinds of petty judgments and notions about me; the other recognized that I was obviously having a difficult time and was trying to brighten my day, even though I may have inconvenienced his. I am sure it would be super annoying to wait on a passenger, but they both made choices on how to react to a situation.”

Got happiness? It’s your choice.