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What a great idea! Stow carry-ons and thank a soldier

October 19, 2009

flagThis is not about war. Or politics. It’s about the personal sacrifice soldiers are making.

Those aren’t my words. They’re the words of Delta Air Lines flight attendant Robin Schmidt, who came up with a brilliant idea to thank our men and women in uniform.

“If I can do something to brighten their day,” she says, “then I will.”


And she has.

If you fly with Schmidt, pay close attention to what she says after the in-flight announcements. As our friends over at the Cincinnati Enquirer report,

After listening to the familiar speech of stowing all carry-on items and how the seat cushion can be used as a flotation device, [she] then asks a favor of everyone on board.

She passes around a journal, asking people to write a personal message to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. When the journal is filled with jokes, prayers and notes of encouragement, she packs it up and sends it along with a care package to a soldier.

Schmidt ‘adopted’ Army National Guard Sgt. Tim Gallagher last year and sends care packages on a monthly basis. Although he says he enjoys the snacks and toiletries, he considers the journals the most moving and thoughtful of all the gifts he has received, according to the report.

They will be something I cherish for the rest of my life. Something for the ages to look at and see how people really feel about what we are doing here. What Robin has done for me is kept my spirits high and me constantly guessing and laughing.

I’m particularly surprised that this happened at an airline like Delta, which isn’t exactly known for allowing its crewmembers to take this kind of initiative.

Even though Schmidt insists her actions aren’t political, there’s no doubt some passengers will interpret them as such. That makes Delta’s decision to allow her to do this particularly gutsy.

(Special thanks to reader Carl Gehr for tipping off to this story.)

(Photo: Ambrosiana Pictures (P)/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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19 comments

  • Dave

    If Delta were to object to such a thing, I’d never fly them again for the rest of my life and any future lives I might have.

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  • Sarah

    This is a great idea. I’m sure that it brings a lot of comfort to the soldier and his company. I would have no problem taking a few minutes out of the flight to participate.

  • April Klazema

    Seriously, if someone has an issue with this, then they should be sent to live in a cave, because clearly that is where they come from in the first place.

    Soldiers, like anyone who has a job, are following the orders of their boss. Unlike in most jobs, the military is not an “at will” employment contract. You sign up, and you are stuck for the duration. Therefore, these people are doing the job that they are told to do. They really have no viable choice in the matter, unless they wish to go to jail, lose their pension, health insurance, and any possibility of gainful employment afterwards, when they desert.

    So I do not see this as political. I see it as someone who is doing something to help people who are doing their job, for this nation. I don’t support the war, but I support the people doing the job, and they deserve that and much more.

  • Noah

    I’m against this. It’s not the message itself, which is fine. It’s that flight attendant is a service position. Most people purchasing a service do not want the servers to share their personal issues with them. If somebody tried to do this working retail, they’d get a stern talking-to from their manager, and for good reason. I flew on Southwest yesterday, and the flight attendants practiced their singing and stand-up comedy routines over the loudspeaker. Just stop already, I don’t care how bad of a singer you are, and I don’t care if you support the troops or not. Serve me a diet coke and some stale pretzels, tell me how to escape in case of an emergency, make sure I’m wearing my seat belt, then leave me alone.

  • Ian

    I think it’s great that Robin is really supportive of troops in a combat zone, but I’d be uncomfortable if I was sitting in a confined space and being asked to write a personal message to a soldier I’d never met.

    It would make me uncomfortable, but I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’m not American, and don’t find it as easy to be openly patriotic (and, also, to put it unsympathetically and bluntly, they’re not my troops).

    Out of genuine curiousity, I would be interested to hear how many passengers decline to write in the book, and in particular how non-Americans may react.

  • Jennifer Hanuschak

    I’m glad your fixed the word “stow.”

  • Carver Farrow

    I bounced back and forth on this one. On the one hand I strongly support the troops. But on the other hand I’m not a fan of peer pressure.

    But then it occured to me that this is extremely common in American business. As consumers we are often asked to donate or otherwise participate in a social good if it’s not political.

    Starwood had the breast cancer awareness promotion; local grocery stores are always asking for donations for health; Whole Foods regulars runs the FEED 100 program; the police have TOYS FOR TOTS around Christmas; People donate time and money to AIDS walks and other fund raisers for cures for various diseases; etc.

    Therefore, I have to conclude that the Delta program is consistent with American business values.

  • Jeanne

    One could always decline to sign and pass along the journal, if one did not approve or have anything to say. As for me, I think it’s a great idea. It makes Ms. Schmidt seem a great deal more human, and not just a drone waiting to serve me “a diet coke and some stale pretzels”. Didn’t Chris have an article not too long ago on how to be nice when you travel? I think it works both ways.

  • DeVon

    I totally support the idea. You don’t have to write in the journal if you don’t want too. You are definitely not being forced too. So I don’t understand why people would object if other people want to do something considerate for a soldier. I don’t have to know you personally to wish you well and hope you return home safely. It’s not like anyone is going to make a big deal if you chose not to sign it.

  • Ames

    In addition to brightening the day of a soldier, this will also remind us, the passengers that soldiers are people not statistics. Whether we think the war is a good thing or not, the war news has gone on for so long that another casualty just seems like more of the same. We need to remember the soldiers are people. And even more important the civilians around them who definitely did not ask for their situation are people – perhaps dressed differently from us and speaking a different language – but with many of the same hopes and dreams we have. They would probably gladly change places with us in our too small seats, being served diet cokes and stale pretzels.

  • http://www.aspendew.com AspenDew

    @Noah: “…flight attendant is a service position.”

    I know of very few “servants” who train so thoroughly to save your arrogant ass, should the need arise.

  • http://www.travelswithcarole.blogspot.com Carole Terwilliger Meyers

    I know this has made my day! :) (It’s only 8 a.m.)

  • Noah

    @AspenDew: I didn’t say that flight attendants are “servants,” I said that it is a service position — i.e., a service job in a service industry. Your suggestion that this is somehow inaccurate is a pretty good indication of the pointlessness of your response.

    And you’re totally right — flight attendants, like many other service workers (lawyers, doctors, etc.), are highly trained service providers.

    What does that have to do with bringing personal issues into the professional workspace? In general, it’s not okay for a retail worker to ask you do do something “for a cause” at the end of your purchase at a store. Nor is it okay for a doctor to regale you with his amateur singing at the end of an appointment (at least not without your permission). Why in the world should it be any different for a flight attendant?

    I mean no disrespect for flight attendants. I am always very polite to flight attendants, and other service workers. It’s just common courtesy, and I understand the experience well because I’ve always worked in service industries. All I mean to say is that their personal things (singing, comedy, politics, social consciousness, religion, whatever) should be reserved for their personal time.

  • Carl G.

    First, as the one who sent this to Chris, I want to thank him for including it in his mailing.

    But, I’d like to add a couple of reactions to the earlier comments.
    * No one is _forced_ to write anything. I have often gone through checkout lines at various retail establishments and been asked if I want to “’round up’ to contribute to…” Or, there are various containers for contributions. Or, the current campaign for breast cancer where many representatives are wearing pink ribbons.

    * One of the great things about this country is that you can make personal choices without fear of retribution. Sure, there are people who may disagree. Unfortunately, some do not know how to disagree without being disagreeable. For those who are not Americans and disagree, I have to honestly ask: Why are you here if you do not like our country, our freedoms and our way of life. I doubt you were forced to come here. I’ve been a number of foreign countries where I don’t particularly like some of their customs, practices. and/or attitudes. But, that is their way of life and I’m happy I can come home to the good old USA.

    * Finally, I am reminded of a wonderful tag line used by many people:
    “If you can read this, thank a teacher.
    If you can read this in English, thank a soldier.”
    It has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with our way of life. This is what Robin Schmidt and Delta are doing. And I thank both for what they are doing.

  • http://londoniscool.com William Wallace

    It doesn’t change anything, you are still in a never ending War that you cannot win and never will win. The bottom line and truth of the matter is that all soldiers fighting in Afghanistan are nothing but statistics and that goes for both sides in the war.

  • http://aol barbie45

    This was a very thoughtful act of her. My fiance served in the Navy forover 25 years; His son just came back from Kuwait. The simplest most appreiated words to them are Thank you for serving our country. That is all someone has to write.

  • Mekhong Kurt

    Ms. Schmidt sure has come up with a wonderful idea to acknowledge our warriors (without necessarily endorsing the wars, which is beside the point, whatever her view of that is). And Delta deserves some kudos for allowing her the platform of their airplanes on which she flies.

    While I believe everyone can react however they like — as long as it’s not impolitely — and everyone has a right to prefer to ignore her request, I see no reason to belittle her efforts, as a few curmudgeons here have done.

    I’ve certainly encountered the championing of causes, including solicitations for donations, all over the place, including numerous retail outlets. I imagine most of us have seen the collection boxes for UNICEF, the United Way, the American Red Cross, etc., including in places I don’t go expecting to spend money on anything other than whatever services or products (or both) a particular business offers.

    However, neither do I resent it, unless a person were to get right in my face demanding I do something.

    After all, are we going to criticize a Girl Scout who comes around selling Girl Scout cookies — raising money for a cause we may, or may not, support? I don’t even much *like* the cookies — but I’ve bought them.

    Some mention a parallel with a waitress, but that’s not really a valid comparison. Contrary to what too many air passengers think, airline cabin personnel are *not* just “wait people at 35,000 feet.” Sure, they do serve us whatever food and drink we request, but they are far more than wait personnel. I mean no disparagement of wait folks– been one myself. However, I’ve never known of a wait person who has been required to have all the “non-waitress” skills an air hostess has to have.

    Further, in my view, what Robin is really doing is offering us at least two opportunities. First is to distinguish between the policy-makers and their wars on the one hand in contrast to the usually-nameless folks sent out to conduct those wars, up close and personnel. It’s entirely possible, not to mention logical and fair, to have one opinion of the wars (disapproval) and the exact opposite of a Marine sweating under the searing summer Iraq sun or a soldier shivering in the mountains of Afghanistan during that country’s fiercely bitter winters.

    There are other contexts. Those of us old enough to remember the tense hours when Apollo 13 got into trouble and it looked like the good guys darned well might not make it home. Sure, we could have said, “So what? That’s what they signed up for.” I don’t recollect hearing any such sentiments, however. Or how about when our people were hostage is Iran, giving rise to the dedicated news show “Nightline”? Yes, that dragged on long enough — 444 days — that we went about our lives, even while turning our thoughts the hostages’ way most days at some passing moment.

    Anyone who wants to skip wearing a yellow ribbon or the like is certainly free to make that choice. But don’t begrudge the Robins of the world who choose to wear it, and to share her compassion.

    Bravo, Robin! You go, Gal! And you ROCK!

  • Mekhong Kurt

    Oops. Forgot to mention the second opportunity Robin is giving us: to send a greeting to a serviceman — IF we are so inclined.

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