I was traveling on the elevated rails in Chicago one day when I met Robin. She walked up to me and started a conversation about the expensive flat screens hanging in the underground loading area at the Logan Square stop of the Blue Line. While I wasn't particularly interested in speaking to anyone she was very insistent on talking with me. I moved away once but she soon followed me down the waiting tracks and again asked me an open ended question. Not realizing she was part of God's perfect timing I opened up and engaged in her banter about politics and the nuances of Chicago's transit systems. After a while I was really enjoying our conversation and since it was a cold evening it helped to take my mind off of the wind blustering through the tunnels.
After a while she began asking me how I liked being a flight attendant, as I was dressed in my uniform and it was very obvious what I was. I was excitedly explaining my new career for a while then realized I should ask what career she was in. To my amazement she too is a flight attendant, although her story is going to teach me a valuable lesson this very night.
Robin is/was an attendant for United's mainline carrier, meaning she flies on the big planes (not the regional jets that I currently work aboard). She has been in the industry for almost 16 years, the last of which has been the toughest. See...Robin was cleaning a plane after a long flight, prepping for the next leg of the trip and her life changed in that moment.
She remembers stepping into seat to reach into the overhead storage bin and retrieve a piece of trash that someone threw up there. The next thing she remembers is being across the aisle laying on the arm of the seats in agonizing pain. She had broken 3 ribs and badly damaged her spinal chord in the fall.
Robin has a home in the suburbs of Denver, I met her on the subway in Chicago. She has been on medical leave since the accident over a year ago. She is not allowed to leave the Windy City because her injuries are too severe, say her doctors. They will not release her to return to work until she can stand or sit for more than 2 hours at a time. She can't fly, ride the train, or bus, or even take a car ride that will last more than 2 hours without an immense level of pain. You see, she has been in Chicago away from her home, friends, and her family since before Christmas 2009. She cannot get home until she gets better.
Lesson here.... NEVER jeopardize your safety to clean the plane.
While I am instructed to clean the plane after each leg, there are specialized crews that will sterilize the plane once a week. If something is out of reach with my two feet planted on the floor of plane, it is going to stay until the weekly sterilizing of that plane. Period!
I had the chance to encourage Robin before we parted ways almost thirty minutes later. I gave her a poem about the Christ Child that I carry in my wallet and told her that she has played a vital role in my education into this new career, and I GREATLY appreciate it. I will pray for her, that she may get to go home soon to be with family and loved ones who can assist in her rehabilitation and eventual return to the career she still desires to pursue in aviation.
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