Cool Flight Attendant Connor

Flying South West Airlines for the first time was a memorable experience. For those who are not familiar with it, the airlines provides cheap fares with the option to reschedule and/or cancel your flight with no additional penalty, until 10 min prior to the departure of the flight. The only catch is that you do not have assigned seats and hence, you have to check in online as early as 24 hours before, to be able to board your flight earlier and find a seat to your liking. It wasn't a concern for me since I always check in online. I was placed  in boarding group A (woohoo!) and because I was flying from NYC to Chicago to Flint, MI on a weekday.

My flight to Flint had exactly 32 passengers on a Boeing 737-700 which means each of us had an entire row, all to ourselves, with no trouble storing our carry-ons whatsoever.

The highlight of my journey was the cool flight attendant Connor. He made sure our trip to a boring city, known only for its lead water contamination, was not as boring as it sounds. From mandatory safety announcement (which he did in less than a minute, I swear) to finally landing in Flint, his announcements were delightful. Some of them are as follows:

Taking off - "Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your seat belts on because we are now taking off. We don't want to be too excited about what the Captain has in store for us today."

Mid air - "We are now 10,000 feet above ground. Please keep your seat belts on. In a while, I will come and take your order for complimentary beverages. Until then, sit back and relax. Or sit up and stay tense - it is up to you"

And finally, on landing - "We have now arrived in Flint. After this we are going back to Chicago. So if any of you want to return with us, please stay seated. If not, please make sure you take all your belongings with you. If you leave something behind, make sure to check Ebay tomorrow."

Ending 2016

This post is long overdue. 2016 was a trademark year for me. Other than learning to enjoy NYC by myself, taking up my love for reading again, learning how to deal with people not very polite to you, I also learnt that kindness begets kindness. And sometimes there is no reason for kindness.

It is very normal for us to question the intentions of others when they are being nice to us. Am I on MTV Bakra? Do they want my money? What's the catch? But sometimes there is none. People are nice just because they like us (or not, for whatever weird reason, who knows!?) and truly want to help us (especially because they are able to).  From getting rides to work (and sometimes back home) to dealing with seniors who were really kind, encouraging and supportive, 2016 totally made up for all the drama I lived through during first half of the year.

New friendships, new relationship developments, new self-discoveries, new joys of life!

All in all I realized, no matter how hard you try, people stay in your life only if they want to. Friends (or family), no matter how awesome they are, get so busy in their lives (like have a child, find a new job, move to a different city), that you can't do anything to top their priority list again. Usually I would try hard and harder to keep in touch with them but why should I? At some point I have to focus on myself. Why can't I just enjoy my own company in a city as cool as NYC. I am blessed and I am grateful for it.