Valerie

Airports are wonderful places… if you are a masochist. After a horrid checking in experience and a flight attended by the rudest airline attendants I have ever met, I finally landed in Charlotte. I was probably not displaying my sweetest dispositions at the time.
A bathroom break was first on the list. I pulled into this overcrowded bathroom and immediately was assaulted by the stench of colonic distress. Great!! This day keeps getting better. Waiting in line I noticed that they had a bathroom attendant. Hmmmm….Charlotte must be doing well. As I am covering my face to keep me from gagging, I am thinking to myself “Wow, this has to be the suckiest job ever”. Valerie (the bathroom attendant) proved me wrong. This woman was the happiest person I have met in a long time (not perky, I hate perky). She took great pride in her job. She made sure everyone was happy and well taken care of. She was hustling about greeting people, asking them if they needed anything, give a sniffling elderly lady a tissue, picking up a dropped toy for a toddler. And when there was nothing to do, she just happily sang, and with a gorgeous voice at that. She brought sunshine to this hole. She made us forget that it was stinky and that we were impatiently waiting in line. She truly made the best of every moment at hand. (She was being where she was at… see previous post on this topic). She succeeded in sweetening my disposition and bringing a genuine smile back to my face.

How many times are we faced with “sucky” circumstances? How do we react? With a smile and a song or with a lot of complaining and whinning? Are we making the best of what life dishes out even if it stinks?
Being happy should not depend on our circumstances. It’s a choice we make every day when we get up. The destination might be great but if we don’t enjoy the trip and learn something along the way, we missed out on life.

PS: This is a pic of Valerie