A Traveller's Tale

On the Bangkok-London leg of my UK trip I did happen to notice the beauty of one of the flight attendants. Of course, in situations like these one immediately conjours up and dismisses impossible fantasies. Or, at least, one does if one is a single male.

Anyway, it turns out that this flight attendant (Shannon is her name) was also on the London-Bangkok flight. Fate screamed at me: "Jon, don't let this opportunity pass!". Perhaps because I was slightly sad about not being able to catch up with a certain ghost from my past, I decided to listen to Fate.

But how to make contact with her in a cabin full of people? Impossible!

Then it dawned on me - perhaps I can buy her something from duty free? Seemed like a reasonable idea, except that my wallet and pen, critical for scribbling a note, were in the overhead locker and I was stuck in the middle of 3 seats. It all seemed too difficult and potentially embarrassing to acquire my wallet from the overhead, buy the gift, scribble the note and then present her with the gift. I resigned myself to an opportunity passed.

Then my seat-mates both decided to get up and visit the rear of the aircraft. Obstacles removed! So I get my wallet (can't find my pen), press the call button and wait for the attendant to arrive. One of Shannon's colleagues appears and I order the bottle of perfume. She takes my credit card and then disappears to fetch the perfume. When she returns with the credit card receipt, I sign the receipt and then scribble a note on a piece of paper: "You only live once! jon - <phone number>". I then hand her the receipt and note and ask her to give Shannon the perfume - the look of surprise on the attendant's face!

Ten minutes later Shannon appears at my seat and thanks me profusely for the flattering gesture. She has a boyfriend, of course [ well, she would, wouldn't she? ] She can arrange a refund if I'd like it. No way! She thanks me again and as she turns to leave she says: "Well, we should have a drink some day!"

I hope she calls, but if not, at least I got a happy smile :-) As they say in the MasterCard ad: priceless.