Funny Airline Pilot Makes My Day

I brought my Baby Taylor guitar along for a cross-country flight to Oregon. It’s great to have around for practice because it’s small and fits overhead in the plane, no problem.

As I boarded United Airlines, a flight attendant surprised me by considerately offering to put my little guitar up front in the closet. I said sure, and thanked her.

During the flight, the pilot turned out to be one of those rare funny ones with a good sense of humor. He made a few in-flight jokes on the intercom, and I always appreciate that.

When we landed and I got to the exit door, I reminded the attendant about my guitar, and she turned to get it. When she came back and handed it to me, the pilot was standing there too, and said “Here’s your guitar. And it’s not broken, either, ’cause United doesn’t break guitars!” We both laughed.

Then he asked if it was a Taylor guitar, and I said it was, the same kind as in the (famous) video. And he said, “Man I’m glad we didn’t break that one.” Cracked me up again.

So United Airlines — despite a seat as hard as a wooden bench and legroom that would cramp a midget — won me over, at least for today. And all because of a nice gesture by the attendant, and a sense of humor from the pilot.

Isn’t this what we want from big business? A personal touch and a little self-effacing levity? It sure made a difference in my day.

For today at least, the skies were quite friendly.

* If you haven’t seen the video United Breaks Guitars, it’s a funny piece of writing, and a brilliant example of how to get the attention of a big corporation.

© 2009 Greg Tamblyn, Motivational Humorist and Guitar Lover