Up, Up and Away!

When we fly, it's most often on Southwest Airlines.  I don't know if you've experienced flying on SW or not; but let me assure you, it's most often an adventure.  The attendants sing, dance, act silly, while being professional with their duties at the same time.  The airline is rarely late, your bags fly free! and they still serve peanuts!

A couple weeks ago, I was flying from my brother and sister-in-law's home in Austin, TX to Panama City Beach, via Houston.  The "fun" was about to begin.  I noticed that I was to have a VERY short layover in Houston...so short, in fact, that I wondered if I would be able to make the connection.  While going through security, I glanced at the monitor above and noticed that our Austin-Houston flight was delayed 20 minutes.  I decided to ask at the gate about the chances of missing that Houston to PCB flight.  Indeed, 13 of us would not make it!  However, they were holding the flight, so everything would be ok. 

We were boarding when a flight attendant walked along side the group, holding up a cell phone.  Mine was in my purse, so I wasn't worried...but it looked identical to mine...I glanced in my purse where I keep it, and NO PHONE!  I told the guy that I thought it was mine.  He handed it to me.  I put in my security code, and bingo!  It opened.  I couldn't believe it had slipped out of my purse.  I was shaking as I put it away.  My phone is my best friend:  it contains so many numbers, pictures, etc; I would be lost without it.   What a relief.  How did I not know it was gone and then be so lucky to get it back? Whew!  Dodged a big bullet.

I made my way to an aisle seat near the back, since we 13 were the last ones to board.  After what seemed like an eternity on the HOT plane, we took off.  There was a young couple sitting next to me, the guy occupying the window seat.  They talked some, and I noticed her "shush" him a couple times.  He seemed irritable.  We took off and had been in the air a matter of minutes when I heard her ask him if he were ok.  Then she reached up and pushed the button summoning the attendant.  I asked her what was wrong, and she said that he had passed out!  He had his eyes open but was definitely not "there!"  A bunch of nurse/passengers and all the attendants arrived on scene, and I was taken to the galley so they could tend to the guy.  He came to, was given juice and a snack, and they cancelled the medical emergency call to the pilot.  Lots of drama but a happy ending.  He didn't handle the heat and had been traveling all day with little food.  The irritability was a precursor to the  fainting episode, apparently.
Whew, again!

I got to PCB, and our son picked me up within just a couple minutes.  I felt worn out, with all the above drama.  Not my ususal fun trip on Southwest Airlines!  But I'm still a fan of SW and look forward to my next trip with them!