The Big Picture

So today I finished a four-day trip with my job and I had the funniest experience at the end of it. I was waiting at the airport to catch a flight home and the flight was over-booked. I am technically considered a must ride even though I wasn't working the flight.

The customer service representative came over to where I was sitting with my Captain, just about five minutes before boarding began, and told me that he had spoken to operations and I would be staying in in that city for the night. I accepted that because when you're on reserve your schedule changes a lot.

Then at the end of boarding another customer service representative came over and handed both of us boarding passes.  By this time I was so confused. I hadn't heard from the scheduling department yet so I took the boarding pass and got on the airplane, found my seat and got comfortable.

By this time the flight attendant had started her announcements and then suddenly my phone rang. It was the scheduling department. I started to laugh and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Melanie, this is *Angelia from scheduling, how are you today?"

"Confused," I replied with a grin.

"Confused?" Amy said joining in my confusion.

"Yes, you're probably calling to tell me I'm supposed to stay in this city tonight, right?"

"Yes, we got a call from operations and they said you can't get on your flight."

"But I'm on the airplane right now," I let that bombshell drop and waited.

"You're on the flight?"

"Yea, customer service handed me a boarding pass, so I got on the flight."

"But the told me you couldn't get on the flight."

"I know, they told me the same thing, but then a customer service gave me the boarding pass," thus the confusion I thought.

"Well, ok then. I'll just change your schedule back and put tomorrow's trip back on," Angela replied incredulously.

I smiled," okay thanks." I didn't really want to work on Easter Sunday. I wanted to go to church and sing with the ward choir, but I guess I just wasn't meant to.

I hung up the phone and turned it off because by now the main cabin door was closed. Then remembering that I needed to let my room mate know I was coming home and not stuck in the city I turned the phone back on.

After it powered on it chimed that I had another voicemail from scheduling. I laughed again wondering what it could say this time. I listened to the message and it was *John from scheduling telling me that he heard I was on the plane, but he was going to take the trip for Sunday off my schedule and just put me back on reserve.

I was happy about that! So after everything that happened I ended up with my schedule just the way I wanted it and I am hoping I won't get called in the morning so I can go to church and sing with the choir.

This experience was so funny to me and I am still smiling about it because earlier in the trip my Captain *Peter had mentioned that he wanted to write a book someday called 'The Big Picture' that explained all of the things that we as a flight crew didn't understand, things like why we traded planes with another crew, why we could land at certain gates and had to wait 30 minutes for them where there were other open gates.

I laugh at this experience because it is just one little part of The Big Picture.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent. :)