19 Apr You owe me
I’m sitting at the gate getting ready to board a Southwest flight to New Mexico. My son is having a high energy morning and I have a ton of stuff on my plate. Multi-tasking I am on a phone call and on my computer at the same time – trying to help my son eat his breakfast. I look at my watch and it is takeoff time. Huh?
I realize I an in the wrong gate. Same place.. different time. I’m on the phone with my sister who had just said to me “Darling, you need to stop trying to be so perfect all the time.” She says being a great mom means not being perfect.
I rush to the gate. They are about to close it. The guy gives me one of those looks. My bags are not zipped – I rushed over there.  The man IN the plane gives me a worse look and starts announcing over the PA in a really frustrated tone “We have a mother here who is a late arrival. Who will give up their seat so she can sit with her son.” he is not saying it in a nice way.
Everyone is looking at me with hate. I’m going to make the plane late. No one moves. He offers free drink tickets. No one moves. My son runs down the aisle. My luggage won’t fit in the overhead compartment.
It is a horrible moment for someone who likes being perfect. I started to turn around to get off the plane as no one was budging. Finally a woman stood up and gave me her seat. She was very sweet to do so.
I sat at my seat and bawled my eyes out turned toward the window. What a great lesson in imperfection.
As the plane took off the pilot said we were 7 minutes ahead of schedule. HEY.
The thing that kept going through my mind was the flight attendant yelling to the gate guy “YOU owe me for this one.. you OWE me for this one.” Ignoring me. Acting like I wasn’t even there with all my bags and my scrambling son. It was a little inhuman.
He warmed up later and I was still bugged by it.  It is amazing how much time we waste in lack of forgiveness. That is what the drug companies need to create a pill for.
Forgiveness.
🙂
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