“I was flying with my wedding dress. It was the most expensive thing I’ve ever owned. I was so anxious. I arrived about two hours early for the flight. The gate agent told me he couldn’t guarantee anything, but to be ready as soon as he started boarding to see if I could snag one of the closets reserved for first class. Before he started boarding, he gestured to me. I was then walked down the jet way by a different gate agent, who handed me off directly to a flight attendant. She opened the closet, helped me navigate my dress in, and then put her jacket in front and closed it. ‘I won’t let anyone else put anything in it. Sit down. Congratulations,’ she said.
I sat down and anxiously watched the rest of the plane pass ‘my’ closet. Any time someone would approach it, the flight attendant kindly said ‘Sorry, that’s full. There’s space somewhere else.’
When we finally took off, I settled in. The drink cart came around and the flight attendant said to me, ‘Can I buy you a drink? To celebrate?’
I got my drink, and I felt so special. When we landed, I got a tap on the shoulder again and was directed to my closet to remove my dress, and I was even the first one off the plane. Now, I know some of this is just the airplane really not wanting to be responsible for ruining a bride’s wedding dress. But that free drink will always feel special to me.”