The customer service person for United Airlines was unusual, as she was not reading from a script, and she was actually laughing at my attempts at humor.
She also had a beautiful accent that I couldn’t place.
She was helping me change my flight so I could travel back to Mexico two days later than my original ticket.
There has been a passport glitch. It has been quite stressful.
For three solid hours I hade been on the phone, all with people who had restraining orders placed upon their creativity, forced to read from scripts by heartless corporations.
I HATE SCRIPTS.
And, to top it off, when this ordeal was done, it would cost me an extra $1000.
But this last United Airlines customer service agent brought out my humanity by revealing hers.
She helped me remember I was also a service agent, not a disgruntled customer.
After we were done with business I told her I had a surprise for her, and that she was going to want to record it.
I asked her her name and where she was from. She said her name was Blossom, and that she was in South Africa.
I asked her to tell me one of her dreams, a heart’s desire.
I picked up my guitar, and improvised a song to honor and support her.
When I was done, I heard a bunch of people clapping in the background. She had put me on speakerphone.
Blossom was sobbing, gushing gratitude.
The name United had never seemed so appropriate.
Oh, and she threw in a free upgrade.
First class flying is not just for the privileged.
It happens to all of us at precisely the moment we become willing to abandon the popular script and upgrade ordinary mundane moments into ones with heart.
Now, unbuckle your seat belt, sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.
