What a morning...

It was 6am in Richmond. As we boarded the flight to New York's JFK airport, I greeted everyone with a smile plastered on my face.
"Good morning" I said.
"Good morning"... the sleepy passengers grumbled and mumbled as the walked onto the aircraft gripping their cups of hot coffee.
Half way through boarding, as she stood next to me waiting for someone blocking the aisle to finish shoving bags in the overhead, she looked over and asked me the question I was hoping to avoid.
"How are you doing this morning?"
I tried to smile and respond but nothing came out. Defeated by my morning and the words i couldn't say- I looked up and told her the truth.
"Well, I've had better days"
"It's only 6 am."
I shrugged and replied, "Yeah... I know!"

I am sure that you all are wondering what on earth could have happened so early in the morning...
Well, I had my early wake up call at 4am. I stumbled out of bed and turned on the coffee maker while I jumped in the shower. Once out, I discovered I had no hair dryer. If there is one thing I NEED in the morning (well besides a cup of coffee) it is a hair dryer. My thin, limp hair just doesn't do well without it. I raced to the wall, blasted the heat and tried my best to dry it from the vent.
As I went to leave the room I grabbed my coffee and found out I had no lids. Great! Try rolling your life down a carpeted hallway with a full cup of hot coffee and tell me it doesn't just suck!
I had been up less than an hour and I already knew it was one of those days. I warned my crew about my "rough" morning and then rolling my bags towards the security line, the unthinkable happened. My bag started to wobble. I threw the bag onto the belt and saw the wheel was barely hanging on my bag.

It's a funny thing- the relationship that Flight Attendants develop with our rollarboards. They are basically our home on wheels. Mine comes with me everywhere... airports, overnights, lounges, crashpads, vacations and at home it sits in my room always half packed ready to go with me wherever. It's more loyal that a dog and doesn't complain if you want to stop and window shop like a boyfriend would. All i could think of was "no! Not MY bag!" The thought of replacing it was too much for me and my no hair dryer, coffee spilt all over my arm morning. I have seen the FA's who have traded in their bags for a newer version, rolling them all over the airport and let me tell you, they are nothing compared to my bag!

So, when the lady on the plane asked me how my broken bag morning was, I told her the only thing I could. The truth! That is a bad morning for a Flight Attendant!

(In case you were wondering... because I know you all are.... I took my bag to the doctors and they fixed her all up. She has made it through the recovery process and can be found rolling through the airports along side of me again! In fact, she is coming with my to Thailand tomorrow!!! Hooray!)

So, how attached are you to your bag???