WOW!

It’s crazy to read, I’m sure and somewhat silly to say here, but…WOW!  Let me tell you why…

First of all, apologies are in order.  I have been so negligent in blogging.  I have no acceptable excuse…I need to blog but I’ve either found other things to fill my time, picked up extra trips to work, or else I’ve just been plain lazy and that’s just not acceptable for a writer.  So to those who’ve been loyal readers, I reaffirm my resolve to be a better blogger.

Secondly, as if my life hasn’t been crazy enough, my world is changing before me.  Yesterday two amazing things happened.  To begin with, my employer announced a huge bombshell (although it was expected to happen for weeks): United Airlines is merging with Continental Airlines, creating the world’s largest air carrier.  It’s a daunting event, to be sure, but there is so much unknown, but excitement in all this that it’s tough to comprehend at the moment.

As it stands, the United Airlines name remains, but the Continental livery and branding will remain…a fitting tribute to a fantastic legacy airline.

In light of the events of the past 48 hours, I felt a strong urge to begin a support page for the employees of both airlines.  If you aren’t an employee of an airline, it’s really difficult to convey the feeling of family that employees feel towards their airline.  And history has a long legacy of airlines that have disappeared, fallen by the wayside, faded into memory.  It’s a painful thing to remember Pan American, Trans World, Piedmont, Eastern, Western, National and countless others.  But the casualties (the loyal employees and their families) are scattered to all four corners of the globe.

The Future of United Airlines

So I started a support group page to help employees from both carriers to be able to meet each other, express how they feel and try to cultivate a new family culture at the new combined airline.  For so long, I have been surrounded by great people who felt they were in a fog about their future.  The sacrifices they have made, financially and in the quality of their lives, have weighed heavily on all of us and we have all been demonized by our leaders, our passengers and the media.

Within 24 hours, almost 3,000 people on Facebook found and embraced the site.  At the time I am publishing this, there are over 4,370 people are now members, most of them employees of both carriers and the response they have expressed has been nothing less than fantastic!  To that end, I wish to share with you the letter I posted this morning, and some of the responses I have gotten from the general membership.

Letter to the Members of the United / Continental Solidarity & Support Team

Dear Group Members,

Congratulations!

In less than 30 hours since it’s inception, the United / Continental Solidarity and Support Team Group page has grown to OVER 3,500 members! WOW!

When I contemplated creating this page, I truly didn’t know what kind of response I would see here. Airline mergers, historically, have been ugly, messy and usually ended up with many casualties, most of them Front Line employees.

When I decided to create this page, I hoped that people would see the value in putting aside our fears, prejudices and concentrate on a spirit of unity, friendship and harmony. It looks like that idea is taking hold.

Both Continental and United have great people, great strengths, and great ideas. We all know that neither are perfect, thus there are things at each company we all hope to see “go away.” WE have the power to do that!

I don’t wish to come off as Pollyanna-ish with regards to our combined futures. There will be compromises that will need to be made; further sacrifices will be required of both sides. I hope that THIS place will be a haven for us all as we begin the daunting task of integration.

We will have our differences — we are human beings, after all, and as such, our primal senses shy away from change. We are all faced with these changes — the unknown can be scary, but fear leads to mistrust, doubt and anger. Let’s not let it get to us. As a combined force, we have the power to make these changes with dignity, professionalism and we can truly become the world’s BEST airlines…not just the biggest.

Again, thank you for your encouragement, your welcome attitudes and your extended friendship.

Let’s Fly (and Work) Together!

Cheers!

Excerpts from Responses of Members

• “You did a very good thing. It is exactly what was needed by all of us. I am a Continental employee heading into 25 years.  I agree with you that most are ugly, however, I think this one will be quite different.  Both airlines have been through so much in their past histories that everybody was on edge. I look forward to working you all myself…”  Kelly C., Continental Employee
  

• “…thank you for doing this! I haven’t been so optimistic about our company in I don’t know how long, well, actually never. lol. This page has been the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time… at least for UAL.  Hopefully Continental feels the same way…” Michael M., United Employee

• “THANK YOU SO MUCH for creating the Group! …We will ROCK!! Remember that there is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendship…” Omar A., United Employee

• “Continental has gone through some ugly mergers. Even after 27 years, I just had an “old TI” (Texas International) flight attendant give me crap about being “Old CAL.”…I do not want this mentality to fester again, especially if I want to spend the end of my flying career back home in Chicago…” Rikki R., Continental Employee

• “…we fear things that we don’t know well, and sometimes we sabotage ourselves in believing the worst in things.  I think this is a positive change, at the right time place and with the right partner, after all we were cut from the same tree and we are finally together once again.  I encurrage both sides to see this as a good thing, true, casualties are posible, and we know that, let’s just hope there are not that much, so we can have a better future with the greatest, biggest, most prestigious Airline in the world…” Amilcar F., Continental Employee

• “Thanks for putting this together. I retired from UA after 40 years in ’08. What I miss most is the camaraderie with my flying partners.  FA’s from both companies can & will make a difference! Good luck to all of you! I miss all of you & I’m so proud of you!” Kitty C., Retired United Employee

• “YOU couldn’t have stated my thoughts and feelings more perfectly!!  Being a CAL F/A has been the BEST part of my Career in this Industry, but now it’s time to grow, expand, change and look forward to meeting my new brothers and sisters at UAL.  I am coming over with a fresh perspective and positive attitude that I bring with me from CAL and myself! I can truly say I am excited to start my new adventure! While I am sad to leave my past at CAL behind but, I know I will carry forth the BEST to UAL!  CAL WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART AND SOUL BUT UNITED is now our future and one just needs to look up the definition of the word “UNITED”! )) in spirit!” Suzie D., Continental Employee

• “As a Southwest flight attendant it really impresses and touches me to see you guys doing this! This is also how we live as an employee group and the values we share at Southwest. I am very glad to see you guys making the most of a stressful situation. You guys should really commend yourselves on this! I wish all of you the best of luck!”  Chris K., SOUTHWEST Employee

I hope these are helpful and inspirational to all those affected by this new era.

Read More…

It’s just my luck…

Just as I get on a roll, getting back into the habit of writing and blogging on a daily basis and POW! My laptop gets smashed. I don’t think I have been without a computer for longer than a couple of days in the past 15 years and it will be very interesting how I deal with it. It’s amazing how reliant I have become on modern day technology and conveniences. The only reason I can even blog this entry is because I have an iPod Touch that has Wi-Fi access and because WordPress has an APP for blogging (thank goodness!).

Even though this may be a short and sweet entry, I did want to plug something that I purchased (which at the time I was really leaning toward declining). I am referring to the Accidental Damage Coverage I bought for my laptop when I got my new machine.

I never thought that I’d need it because really treat my computer with kid gloves…it has a felt screen protector and a gel zip cover it is kept in…most people have no idea that it’s almost 3 years old! It is one of the few things I own that (admiitedly) I treat like gold and up until now, I’m glad i have.

After I get my ‘puter back, I’ll share with you what happened to it. In the meantime, I am sincerely happy that I purchased that ADC insurance for the laptop from BestBuy…the Geek Squad now has it and I am hopeful they will be able to restore my baby to its working order…hopefully like new. And if they are unable to replace the broken parts or if the repairs cost more than replacing it, they will allow me to choose a brand new one…cool!

At this point, the best $300 I have spent on computers ever!

This blogging phenomenon is pretty damn cool!

Just give people a forum to express themselves and you’ll find that there is a whole new world of…well, for lack of a better word, entertainment out there. And I don’t use the word to belittle or besmirch (hehe—THERE’S a $3 word for ya!) those that take the time out of their day to put thought to the virtual page. In a way, it sort of validates who we are as an individual and I’m finding it so very liberating.

Of course, there is a lot of pure rubbish out there too. Some people are truly out of their minds with the stuff they fill the internet with. Cyber-trash. I suppose it’s no different than surfing the almost 200+ channels of satellite television just to return to the same 5 or 6 channels that I used to watch when I only had 20 or 30 to choose from in the first place. I’m sure it’s very easy to get caught up in it all too.

When I was first made aware of MySpace, I thought “Wow! That is such a cool idea!” A place where I can literally make my own site, fill it with all kinds of decorations and goodies and things, but mostly just junk! I made some new friends there, I learned about old friends there and I reconnected with people I hadn’t even THOUGHT about in years—maybe even decades—there.

Then people started talking about Facebook. It was a more simplistic device; it had a more intuitive ability to connect the people, places, events and hobbies together, but in a form characteristic of CNN’s Headline News rather than The Situation Room. And jumping into the fray, I too, connected with more people, my family, my long-ago friends, my newly-met friends and people with similar interests.

Somewhere in the past year, though, it has evolved into something a little more like banner ads and pop-ups on the web, rather than real information I cared about. Who gives a rat’s ass that Susie planted a new virtual flower in her new virtual flowerpot in “Gardenville” or that Rickie became a level 59 vampire in the continuing saga of “Sucker Wars!” I mean, come on people!

That’s not to say that I am not guilty—I am, but I have become ever sorrier that I am these days. I still use the old Facebook (I even advertise my blog on it, to the chagrin of probably everybody I know there, but whaddyagonnadooo?

Don’t really know why Twitter is gangbusters at the moment. To me it is a twisted combination of cell phone texting and the old “ticker-tape” stock quotation machines…and everybody is just keeping close tabs on Ashton Kutcher’s every move…like he’d have any idea who any of the over one million Twits he boasts are following his every move, hanging on his every word. As my friend Michele would say: Really? (Insert a huge dose of sarcasm to that “Really” and you’d know what I am talking about!)

I’m not sure I am smart enough to answer that question to any degree of accuracy or expertise. But I think that we, as a society, may be evolving into a new species. Technology has forever altered not only what we say and when we say it, but also how we express it, where it gets heard…and interestingly, we have no idea who is “hearing us.”

Some of us place our hearts on our sleeves and expose our inner selves for the entirety of humanity to ingest, unaware of any unintended consequences that might result of it. Others have really nothing at all to say—they just want to be heard and will say anything to accomplish it. Still others try to educate; to contribute to the ever-expanding human consciousness and knowledge of pretty much every subject imaginable. It boggles the mind because it truly is the absolute definition of the human species—to create and be creative.

Imagine what our lives would be like if no one imagined anything new…!

So why do I blog? It’s a pretty basic premise for me. This is where people will truly learn who I am. While I may post moronic, sophomoric rubbish from time to time—that’s me (I get this from my family—if you ONLY knew!)—this is where I can create, dream, relish, long, hope, cherish, despise, abhor, admonish—this is where I can be real, and therefore validated.

I blog…therefore, I think I might just really be!