I was traveling last weekend - a short trip to visit my college roommate in San Diego (my instant love for the baby panda at the zoo is another story).

On Sunday evening, as I was about to land in Dallas, the (Continental) flight attendant man told me that I had to get rid of my cup of ice before descent (I asked him if I could keep it and he said no). I thought he was kidding, and must have looked shocked when he said “who do you think we are, Southwest Airlines?”

… I must have looked more shocked (and was wondering if he had seen my laptop screen as I had been doing some work for Southwest for much of my flight) when he said “you look like you fly Southwest a lot. You do, don’t you?”

He also looked offended when I didn’t offer him some of my candy I pulled out - I told him I need to have something to unpop my ears since he took my water away. He was not amused. It was a very awkward experience.

I’m not really sure what makes me look like the kind of person who would fly Southwest. And I’m not really sure what this experience says about the Southwest brand. The fact that the slightly awkward, though generally friendly, flight attendant saw that I was disappointed that he had to inconvenience me to follow procedure (as silly as the procedure seemed), is hopefully a comment on Southwest’s reputation for good customer service on their flights.

… And hopefully not a comment on my secret love of hot pants.