Ugly Stepchild Moments....

If you are a human in the 21st century, you should know the story of Cinderella. And if you know me at all, then you know my life revolves around a variety of Disney moments, or at least moments I relate to Disney.... Anyways, we all know the story of Cinderella who gets stuck caring for her horrible stepmother and equally horrible stepsisters, and while they are as hideous on the outside as they are within, Cinderella is the one who becomes the unwanted ugly stepchild. Well, I believe that we are all handed a variety of ugly stepchild moments.... Also known as those challenging moments where we are placed into a situation so uncomfortable we start grabbing air or random strangers to try and claw our way out.

In my job, the likelihood of an ugly stepchild moment is very real. The people, places, and situations I deal with on a daily basis change dramatically and chances of everyone getting along 24/7 in magical harmony, is just that, fantasy. When you have 14 people that have never met or worked together before, trapped in a piece of metal hurtling across the sky at 500mph all working to ensure 300+ strangers get along for 12 hours and make it to the final destination safely, tensions can run a tad high. Well, a recent experience I had was with one such crew. We had a few new people that were still learning the job, and while that is wonderful, it also creates a bit of added stress on the rest of the crew... But that in no way makes it acceptable to point out such a situation and repeatedly draw attention to peoples lack of knowledge and experience... This situation is known as an UGLY STEPCHILD MOMENT. 

The recipient of this particular ugly stepchild moment was an AMAZING sport. There wasn't a moment on the flight that there wasn't a smile on his face, even if it was a bit strained at times. He dealt with all of the senior people on the flight literally yelling at him non-stop and held it together in tremendous fashion. I volunteered to assist for a few minutes, quite literally got my head bitten off, and quickly made my exit. How that kid held it together for 12 hrs is BEYOND me. 

Kudos to him for being the ugly stepchild and having the strength to rise above it with a smile on his face the whole time. He even got on the flight back home to deal with it all again about 24 hrs later... We may have bought him a couple beers and played "Let It Go" several times in a vent session before the flight, but at least he was still smiling when we made it back home. It was really was a true Cinderella moment. Just remember to "have courage and be kind."

Love, Alison