A Full Flight, and a Full Smile
Onboard a completely full airplane home, the flight was full (and there were about 50 people waiting on standby) because an earlier flight had been canceled. Understandably, people were pretty cranky, and there was far more luggage being hauled onboard than could possibly fit in the overhead compartments. People were tired, some were angry, and the flight attendants were doing their best to keep things moving. One had stepped into the row right behind me to direct traffic a little. A young (20ish) gal commiserated with her about the cranky passengers, and the flight attendant kept smiling, but said she'd be glad when this flight was over. As I was listening to all of this, I was digging into my backpack to grab a stack of "Get Out of Hell Free" cards, and I handed one to the stew, saying "You may need this."
She looked at it and started giggling. "I need this!" she said. "I'll need it every time I make a mistake! I'll probably need it by tomorrow," she said. "You'll probably need it before we land," I said, and she giggled even more. ("Where did you get it?" she asked. "I print them, right here in 9A," I said, which got me yet another smile.) The pretty 20ish blonde gal had a quizzical look, so I handed her one also, and she beamed me a huge smile too as she headed back toward her seat.
GOOHF Creator Randy Cassingham, Colorado