Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! On this holiday, people are getting together with their families and enjoying the general company of being with each other… that and all the food. On this day, I always think about my best Thanksgiving Day ever. It happened when I was a flight attendant.
The Line Starts Here by Arthur Kevin McGrath, on Flickr
A Holiday is Another Working Day
When I was a flight attendant, I wasn’t senior enough to have Thanksgiving Day off. It was the downside of being in the service industry. I liked knowing that I was helping other people get to their families though. I think I was just trying to make the most the day because the planes don’t stop just because it’s a holiday. Even though the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after are two of the busiest travel days of the year, the actual holiday is pretty light. Most people have already arrived at their destination, so the work day was pretty relaxed.
One Thanksgiving Day when I was a flight attendant, I was on a trip that had a turn-around in Tampa/St. Petersburg. We were only scheduled to be there long enough to drop-off passengers and then pick up a new group to fly to somewhere else. When I opened the cabin door onto the jetway, the gate agent was standing there. Before she let anyone off the plane, she told me, “We have Thanksgiving dinner for your crew. When you’re done here, come on up.”
Tampa Airport by flyvancity, on Flickr
When the last passenger had exited the plane, I let the crew know that the gate agents had dinner for us. We walked up the jetway into a fairly empty airport. None of the fast food restaurants were open, and only a dozen or so people were waiting in the boarding area for our outbound flight. The gate agent appeared again and pointed us in the direction of the break room. She told us to take our time. With so few people traveling, she would hold off boarding.
Behold the Buffet
We entered the break room, and we were overwhelmed with the scents of Thanksgiving dinner. I was expecting a turkey sandwich or something processed and packaged, but no. A group of U.S. Airways employees in Tampa, who had the day off, set up a full Thanksgiving dinner buffet for every inbound crew to enjoy. It was home-cooked meal and even included pumpkin pie. They knew we couldn’t stay long, so they had to-go boxes, bags and plastic wrap. One of the other flight attendants in my crew was a friend from training. Both he and I had huge smiles on our faces as we filled our plates, and we couldn’t say “thank you” enough.
extravagent thanksgiving dinner by lauren michell, on Flickr
Thankful
Back on the plane, we didn’t get a chance to eat right away, so we stowed our meals until after take off. After serving the few passengers who were on the plane, we heated up our food in the galley’s convection ovens and took a seat in the back. We probably made the passengers hungry with all the smells of turkey and stuffing, but we didn’t care. Unlike us, they would be getting their Thanksgiving meals with their family soon. We sat in silence and shared smiles between mouthfuls of food. At that moment, we were thankful that kind, unselfish, and thoughtful people existed in our world. Remembering how I felt on that day makes it the best Thanksgiving day ever.
