Adventures in Flight - Love in the Air

I love flying Southwest Airlines, not just because I work there, but because you can just interact with some real characters.

I was coming home from a conference in Connecticut on Friday evening. It was a week-long course and I was exhausted from all the learning and of course, the evening adventures as well. When I'm tired, I like to choose a seat near the engines for the sole reason that people are less likely to talk in that area because it tends to be noisier. It was a full flight so there were folks all around us.

As we prepared for landing, the flight attendants made their usual announcement for everyone to put their chairs and trays in the "full and upright position". They breezed through the cabin looking for offenders several times. On one such pass, one of them stopped to ask someone behind me to comply.

From behind me I hear a loud, upper-Midwest accent, "Jack put your chair up. Jack, your chair! She wants you to put your chair up." Obviously the man couldn't hear well because each time, she got louder.

"Jack, push the button!"

I started smiling to myself and the lady next to me was doing the same thing. "It must be longtime love," she said, and that made the situation adorable. I nodded in agreement with a big grin.

We landed and this older couple got even more adorable. I asked her what part of Minnesota she was from (I have dear friends up there and just love the accent.) She smiled and told me that she was actually from Wisconsin. Then with a twinkle in her eye she added with that nasaly twang known in that area of the world, "Kenosha, Wisconsin. Home of Hanes Underwear and Snap-On Tools."

This couple is a widow and widower, I found out later from the passenger who sat next to them on the flight. I assumed they'd been married for years. It turns out, they've been living together "in sin", as she called it, for over 20 years and are still very much in love.

I hope to be that wry and that much in love when I'm in my older years.

Halloween at SWA

Before I started with SWA, Halloween was just another minor holiday. It was mostly uneventful, except for the occasional great costume party. But since coming here, it's skyrocketed to one of my favorite days of the year. Here's why.

Every year, Southwest Airlines headquarters here in Dallas essentially shuts down, except for those folks who are critical for the operation to continue, like dispatch and crew scheduling. Nearly every department gets in on the fun in one way or another. Most either do a walk-through haunted house or carnival; the rest do full-on production shows. They're amazing.

And on top of that, nearly everyone dresses up in costume, hopping from show to show. People bring their kids. It's a hoot. I love watching new people watching the chaos, completely wide-eyed. It's certainly a celebration of fun and of all the hard work put in throughout the rest of the year.

When I first got here 6 years ago, Technology's skit was just pathetic. We tried to do a variety show based on TV shows. We thought it was pretty good, but then we got a peek at the one the Executive Office was doing and theirs was Broadway compared to our high school quality skit.

The next year, the gauntlet was thrown and we brought it on!

We finally figured out that the winning shows required a lot of musical productions. Believe me, none of us can sing worth a hoo-ha, but man, this group of computer geeks can really get the enthusiasm of the crowd going. For 4 years running we won first prize among all the skits.

Last year was especially hard with many huge projects going on, so we only put together a walk-through. It didn't win a darn thing.

After a year's hiatus, the Technology musical skit is back; this year titled, "Not Another Southwest Airlines Technology Department Halloween Musical!" And yes, it's filled with campy musicals and wit. And men in drag.

Men in drag? Yes, it's true. Some of them(straight and gay) manage to find a way to get in drag every year which should set off some kind of alarm, don't you think? Around here, it's almost second nature. Scary, isn't it? I mean, if Gary Kelly, our CEO as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray last year, can do it, why can't everyone!?

The lineup this year includes quite a variety from favorite musicals (SWA-fied of course) past and present including:

Grease (something about fuel hedging)

Airspray (a song from Hairspray)

West Side Story ("I like to be on American")

SWAmma Mia (mine)

Rocky Horror Picture Show (yes, it includes pelvic thrusts!)

High School Musical finale including a well choreographed basketball sequence

Parts of it are hilarious. Others are just meh, but the ending should be enough to get the audience full participation. It builds well and the costumes are really going to rock this show.

I can't wait to tell you more as the week progresses and hopefully post some pictures shortly afterwards.