Happy Birthday to me!!!
I started my day at 6:30 AM, but just lying in bed and seeing if I would be sharing a birthday with April’s baby. You know, the giraffe in NY. Then my oldest comes in and snuggles with me. He asked me to tickle him so I did and we both were laughing. At this time I know I have to get out of bed so I can finish up the last of the packing for our trip to San Francisco. It was 7:30 and we had to leave at 9:00 AM. So before this I had it planned. I wanted to adjust to the time change so I would stay up as late as I could then wake up early as I could so I can pass out on the plane. I slept at 1:30 and woke up at 6:30 AM. Not so bad right? I could be a useful mom until the flight takes off on 5 hours of sleep.
We knew the airport would be busy since it was a holiday in China. Got there with enough time to get some food. Full belly = better sleep right? We got to the plane via a shuttle bus. No big deal. That was a cool adventure for the kids since we got to board the plane via stairs. We were the 6th plane in line. Pilot thought it would take 30 minutes (per his announcement) but took a little longer than that. After a 2 hour delay the boys got a little restless. Finally I heard the infamous *ding* signaling that we were about to head to the runway.
Yes!
The white noise would make the kids tired, and me and L were exhausted. C was by the window, I was in the middle (only because I had to stop the fighting) and X was by the aisle. I was forcing the kids to nap since it was going to be a long day. C had a pillow on top of his belly, as did X.
We started ascending and C started saying…
“Mama?? What’s this?!!”
I’m staring at black drops on his pillow and the drops keep multiplying. What the heck?!!! It smells like coffee. And it’s falling from the ceiling! OMG! I get 2 pillows and tell C to sit in the middle as I try to keep these drops from dropping on the seat and on us! Keep in mind… this is ALL happening while the plane is ascending. What in god’s name is happening! Once we leveled off, the flight attendants came (because many people pressed the attendant button) and assessed the whole situation. It was seriously a group effort to clean it up. Other friendly passengers came by with paper towels. We tried to figure out where it’s coming from. Maybe it’s dripping from the overhead compartment? Nope. All dry. Then you see more droplets forming. Then they told us they turned off the drain *UPSTAIRS* because there might be a leak.
Wait.
W-H-A-T?!!
Like as in the sink drain? Or the toilet drain? My brain needs to know. Or does it. It smelled like coffee so I’m assuming it’s the sink drain (please don’t try to change my mind). The awesome stewardess, Sandra, comes by with nice blankets and pillows from business class to place on the soiled seats. She was so thoughtful and considerate. Another one offered to literally change the seat with an empty seat in the back. I have to laugh at the whole situation since it was going to be a long flight. 12 hours to be exact.
Then the head flight attendant comes by and informs the row IN FRONT of me (which did not get affected at all) a long, very long apology. About how we were supposed to be informed of the possibility that these seats could be affected by the drain. She said she didn’t come out and tell us because she thought someone already did that. She came out with a few regular blankets and told the row IN FRONT of me that they would all be compensated. Pointing to my row too. Then she came to my row. She asked if we needed any extra blankets, I said no because we were taken care of but handed us the blankets instead. No looooong explanation like the row in front of me that did not get impacted whatsoever. But my husband did take her aside to talk to her. When they returned, she apologized to the row in front of me AGAIN. Literally 5 minutes. One lady in that row said we were impacted more (pointing to our row).
It was like that comment went in one ear and out the other.
I started getting very annoyed she didn’t make eye contact with me at all. Not once. I couldn’t contain myself and asked her why she only addressed them and not me (us, our row). She said she would go row by row. Ok. Seriously. Row by row. There were 4 adults and 2 kids. 2 rows. It’s not like this place was huge and we were sitting so far apart. And this was the second time she came around. She was going to say the same message to our row anyways. Better to address in a group setting rather than row by row especially if you don’t relay the same exact message.
It’s like getting hit by a car and the medic asking the pedestrians if they are ok and not the person that really got hit.
The way she handled the whole situation made my blood boil. I did tell her I spoke English and there was no language barrier. I mean, I am Asian and we were departing from Shanghai. That got her blood boiling too. For a person that is supposed to deal with situations such as these, it was not handled properly.
>>> For the people that got impacted the most she said the fewest words to. <<<
She could have talked to the other flight attendants and gotten a little summary of the situation BEFORE talking to the passengers.
It’s like double checking coordinates before you drop a tomahawk missile.
It’s like writing an X on the arm you need to amputate.
It’s like studying before the exam.
It’s like double checking to see if you are sending the right application when you apply to multiple colleges.
It’s like verifying you are sitting at the right row and seat number at a movie theater.
Simple. It’s your job. You became the purser for a reason.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy (which my 6 year old always says).
Anyway, that’s how I spent the first 14 hours of my 39 hour birthday (14 hours in Shanghai + 12 hours in the air + 13 hours in San Francisco).
Now I’m sitting here with the smell of coffee and whatever else was mixed in the drain and still on 5 hours of sleep.
Really wish I could say this was an April Fool’s joke!
But United. Seriously. Retire these old 747s or do some extensive refurbishing.
Thank goodness Sandra was working today. She did everything right during a complicated situation.
April 1, 2017 Flight UA858 PVG to SFO 12:10 PM original departure time
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After having a conversation with United, they apologized and confirmed it was the upstairs sink drainage that had a leak. It was a combination of wine, water and coffee that leaked. We were compensated. Just hope they fix it so someone doesn’t have to go through this too along with ALL the other issues going on with United.