Memories of a wedding

So, I know the feeling of trying to transport a wedding gown for a "destination wedding." As some of you may recall, just about a year ago, I was preparing for MY destination wedding. Oh, what great memories....but I digress. Back to the Story of the Week:

We were just about to fly from Ontario, CA to Sacramento, CA. It was the last flight of the night. The plane was just about full of people. Just a few left to board, and we'd be on our way...a girl came on board with a rather large white garment bag. I assumed immediately that it was a wedding dress. (I was right.) She just stood there at the front door and looked at me. I had NO idea (seriously) what she was wanting. Finally, the lady that I am assuming is her mother said, "Honey, just ask her." The bride-to-be turned to me and said, "Where can I hang this?" (Let me just update those of you who have never, or who have not recently, traveled on SWA. We do not have space available to hang things up. We barely have enough room for 137 seats and two restrooms....) I just looked at her and said, "Honey, we don't have a place to hang it. We'll try to make an overhead bin available for your dress." "I'll just hold it," she said as she started to walk down the aisle. (I wish you could have seen this dress. There was NO way she was going to hold it in her lap.....let me share a secret with you: the overhead bins are bigger than the individual seats! Not to mention what would happen if we just happened to be involved in some sort of emergency situation....) I followed her down the aisle, as did her fiance, both of us trying to convince her that the overhead bin option was MUCH wiser. She ignored us both. He looked stressed out; I just started to laugh. He kept walking past her seat of choice (trying to get as far away from her as possible????) She placed her bag in the overhead bin and attempted to sit down with the dress in her lap....more laughter from the one being paid to deal with this. (me) By then, one of my coworkers had tried to intercept the situation - to no avail. We emptied an entire bin for her. (Not a typical practice on a full flight.) She still would hear nothing of putting her dress in the bin. She went on to inform me of exactly how expensive her dress was. (My personal opinion: If you already paid THAT much for the dress, what was $50 more to ship it to the wedding destination?????!!!!) So, I inquired, "Is the wedding over or yet to come?" We concluded that it was yet to come. So, now delayed in our departing by over 10 minutes because of this bridezilla, I scooped up the dress, folding the bottom up to the top and headed to the empty bin with it. I tenderly laid it in the bin (thinking the whole time of the adventure of MY wedding when I stuffed the dress in a suitcase large enough for me to fit in myself, and wished for the best as I checked it all the way to Los Cabos.) She followed close behind me - monitoring my every move as I placed it above and closed the bin. I informed her that the arrangement would HAVE to be ok, asked her to take her seat and smiled at her fiance as he mouthed the words, "I'M SORRY!" to me. No biggie....just another day at SWA!
And I'll refrain from mentioning the water bottle that toppled over and began leaking in the bin just across from the one holding the precious cargo......no harm done to the dress, but good for a scare (or a laugh....)!!!!