Making The Flight Seem Short

With my deepest apologies to Ginger, the Southwest flight attendant, for posting this so late, even the most usual and mundane occasions can be made interesting and meaningful by wonderful people. Take Ginger, for instance. The flight from Baltimore to Salt Lake City is about 5 hours east to west. It normally feels like a very long time. I'm reticent to complain about "long" flights since so many of my ancestors spent 90 - 120 days crossing the plains from Iowa to Utah in search of religious freedom and the hope of finding Zion. Certainly, 120 days would be a LONG FLIGHT, but what can I possibly say about 5 hours or even 6 or 7 hours if the flight is delayed or there are problems? Nothing! So to say that five hours seems "long" is at best relative and at worst whining. Anyway, on this particular occasion, Friday 12 October 2007, the length of the flight seemed shorter because of Ginger. Ginger is from Houston. Ginger always smiles. She spent 25 years on the Houston police force, retired and started a new career as a flight attendant on Southwest Airlines. When we first met she noticed I had brought along plenty to eat and I offered to share. She took my response as typical passenger small talk but eventually thankfully took half a ham and cheese on homemade wheat and then we began to talk. My curiosity revolved mostly around how she could have such a happy outlook after spending 25 years on a big-city police force encountering the worst the world has to give on a regular basis. Her response was simple and profound: "I believe most all people are good." She reinforced to me how our experiences are powerfully crafted by our own beliefs and expectations. I am certain that her experience with the same criminals as other officers encountered in Houston was completely different than most because she believed the person was inherently good. Now she smiles at passengers and wonders what other attendants are talking about when they complain about "nasty" passengers. They don't know what "nasty" is, but then, neither does she, I suppose, since to her, people are good. So she smiles. Thanks Ginger. Houston, and the world, are better places because of you. Rodger