Because it’s the first day of a new year and I’m in a really good mood, I’m going to take a moment to send an expanded shout out to Alaska Airlines, who made me one of the happiest men on the planet on Sunday.  

Let me set the scene.  It was a thoroughly unremarkable Holiday travel day at SeaTac Airport.  Plenty of people, but no major problems, no significant delays, no evidence of really frayed nerves.  OK, I did come close to popping off at the super slow guy ahead of me in the TSA line who didn’t even bother to untie his shoes until he was about to send his things through the scanner, then was so desperate to finish the water in the bottle the agent found in his bag that he put the shoes back on and went out of the security area to drink it.  Oh, and there was the boarding delay because a light bulb was out in the galley of our plane.  Other than that, no problems.

Then I boarded.  No, the troubles didn’t start.  I walked into the closest thing to heaven I could attain without an upgrade.

First, I heard something altogether new.  A flight attendant was directing passengers where to stow their carry-on bags.  He was friendly, he was polite and he was sticking absolutely to the rules we’d all been given before we hit the jet way.  It was fantastic!  Then I watched him in action.  No one in row 28 put their bag over row 5 so they could grab it on their way out.  No one wasted time trying to stow a too-large bag.  No one got to leave a coat or purse or laptop in the overheads.  With a big smile and an efficient manner, he pulled them out, returned them to their owners and asked them to put them in the under seat area.

But the most beautiful moment came when a passenger who boarded late asked him if he would lift her bag into the overhead.  He said he couldn’t lift it but he’d be happy to check it.

Tears came to my eyes and I almost leapt up, kissed him on the mouth and asked him to marry me.  (I could do that.  I was still in Washington State.)  It was like he read my mind and happily made everything work smoothly – the way it should.

Sometimes life just gives you lemonade.

Happy New Year!