I was on a flight the other day and paused as the Captain’s briefing began with humor that made me look up.
It turns out the Captain had come to the passenger side to talk to us. Over the next 3 minutes, he humorously told us about his son’s Little League defeat, the rooster on his farm, and cracked jokes at the expense of the airport we were going to.
He ended with a lovely thank you for trusting him, his crew, and the airline with our safety. He believed the trust was well placed as he’d been doing it a long time but he never took it for granted.
When he finished, we all clapped.
I’ve been fortunate to take many flights over the years. This was the first time I experienced this reaction after the Captain’s briefing.
As I reflected on it, it was all just an illustration of the combined power of humor and gratitude that transformed something mundane to something unique and memorable.
