She Gone: A Brief Explanation As To Why Emirates and I Broke UP

Greetings friends! Welcome to what may be the last semi exciting post to ever be published on Schutz and Scores, unless reading tales of my my dad and I watching nightly King of Queens reruns is your thing, in which case, enjoy! Yes, I write to you today, no longer as a jet setting Emirates Airline flight attendant, but rather as an unemployed, empty nest crashing, 25 year old bum!

Let me rewind before I kick my pity party into full gear.

July 15th I packed two large suitcases and flew from Dubai to New York for my 10 days of leave, just like I had done many other times. Those first ten glorious days were filled with food, family, friends, and fun!

One of the highlights of my trip was attending a reunion for a special needs camp that I used to volunteer with in high school.

I also spent a weekend in Chicago with my friend/personal cheerleader, Evan, for the Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon. The course was hillier and the temperatures were hotter than I anticipated, but I did finish upright. Success.

2:09...Your supposed to Get Slower Each Race, Right?

On July 25th, what was to be my last night in Illinois, I went out for a night of dining and wine tasting with my friend Kristen. We topped off our evening with a late night two mile run, which was pretty impressive, considering the amount of wine we had consumed. We parted ways that night with a "see ya later" instead of the usual sappy goodbye, as she planned to be landing in Dubai in just 10 short days for her first overseas visit.

Kristen and I At A Winery In Grafton, Illinois

The next morning my dad drove me to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, and two hours later I landed safely into JFK. With a twelve hour layover ahead of me, I boarded a train and headed towards Manhattan with the intent of visiting the 9/11 Memorial...and consuming a larger than my head New York Style hot dog. Don't judge me.

Just as I was about to step foot on the train, my dad called me and shared some sobering news. Kristen's dad, David, had been in a farming accident, and his injuries were quite severe. Not quite sure what to do with this information, I found a quiet corner in the train station and alternated between making phone calls and praying.

Unfortunately, minutes later my dad called me back with a simple message, "He didn't make it."

There really was no decision to be made. When my mom suddenly passed away, my friends carried me through that first week. Now it was my turn to be there for my friend. I booked a return to ticket to Illinois and came home.

Understandably, Emirates has a firm policy that unless an immediate family member dies, they will not approve a leave of absence due to death. Regardless, I politely communicated with my manager that I would not be returning to Dubai until after the funeral services.

Throughout my week at home, I actively searched different flight options, but nearly all of Emirates flights departing the US were completely overbooked. On Friday, I finally figured out a semi promising path back to Dubai. Unfortunately, due to there being a large number of other standby passengers also listed for flights, seven hours and two frapachinos later, I departed Lambert Airport...as a passenger in my dad's car.

By this point I was receiving daily emails from my manager, demanding that I return to Dubai immediately. During this time the website that allows me to purchase domestic tickets wasn't functioning properly, causing me even more problem with booking a return flight.

As if Murphy's Law wasn't in full enough bloom, another little wrench was thrown into my plans. Apparently, the U.S. government intercepted a terrorist plot by those pesky little al Qaeda members. Unless you've been living in cave, in which case you might be a member of al Qaeda, I'm sure you've heard about this issue, but just in case, feel free to read all about it here and here.

After living overseas for a year and a half, I'm aware that the American media has a tendency to over exaggerate issues, especially those concerning the middle east. However, the US government shutting down 21 U.S. Embassies and consulates across the middle east, two of those being in my very own United Arab Emirates, was quite alarming.

According to the U.S. Department of State, "The US government has established a worldwide travel alert due to the potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula."

Courtesy of Google Image

Middle East? Live there. Arabian Peninsula? Live RIGHT there. North Africa? Two flights scheduled there for next week.

On Sunday morning at 2:00 AM, I finally made contact via the phone with my manager. I completely respect my manager's need to do her job and enforce company policy. However, as she informed me I either needed to be on a plane back to Dubai that day or turn in my resignation within the next two hours, I knew I had a tough decision to make.

As I sat in my family's living room and tried to figure out what the right decision was, I began to wonder if perhaps all of my failed attempts at returning to Dubai was a sign that I wasn't meant to go back. I was reminded of another time that I was dealing with a similar situation.

When I was in the fourth and fifth grade, I was struggling with a very difficult issue in my life. This issue caused me lots of angst and sleepless nights. Was or was not Santa Claus real?

I wanted to get to the bottom of this badly, and even went as far as running handwriting samples; comparing my mom's to that of Santa's notes from years past. I asked my mom repeatedly if he was real. Without fail she would reply, "What do you believe in your heart?"

Depending upon the week I'd reply, "Oh, he's definitely real," or "He can't be! There's just no way he could really eat all those cookies and visit all those houses."

To both responses she'd always smile, nod her head, and say, "OK."

She died without ever really giving me a solid answer. So the jury is still out, folks!

As an adult, she and I talked about her approach to my nagging Santa Claus question. I was intrigued as to why she never actually just gave me a blatant answer. Being the wise ass owl that she was, she told me that would have been too easy, I wouldn't have learned anything. She told me that in life, there are not always right or wrong, black or white, firm answer. Sometimes you just have to pray, look at the facts, and make a decision based on what you believe in your heart.

Within the hour I respectfully submitted my resignation to Emirates Airline, thanking them for the opportunity to represent an iconic brand and to achieve my dream of traveling the world.

Although I was planning to resign this fall, this wasn't quite the way I pictured it happening. I wanted to have a great last flight to an amazingly exotic location, return to Dubai for one last hooraa with my friends. And naturally, they'd get me a going away cake. I wanted the cake, damn it!

Although  I believe this was the best decision for me at this time, I will continue to acknowledge my experience with Emirates Airline as a positive one...that is until my Emirates/Dubai tell all book comes out. Kidding. Kind of.

Sure, it wasn't always perfect. There were hard times, times I wanted to quit. Times I missed my friends and family. Times I had diarrhea from eating too much street food. Oh, was that too much information? But thinking of my time with Emirates makes me smile, and I'd do it all over again in a heart beat.

The places I've visited  in the past year and a half were amazing, but the people I've met were even more beautiful. I don't even want to go into detail about how much I will miss my friends because it will make me cry and totally blow that whole rumor that I'm dead inside. Just rest assured that love, kindness, and generosity exist far beyond the borders of the good ol USA. I'm so thankful to know people who radiant these virtues all around the globe, and am so honored to call them my friends.

First Desert Safari With Charlene (Northern Ireland) and Charlotte (U.K.)

Drinking Buckets in Thailand With Dom (Australia), Sarah (Ireland) , and Paula (Scotland) 

Watching The Euro Cup With Natacha (France) and Tammy (Brazil)

Maggie, Sara, and I at Jebal Hafeet ('Merica)

Brunch With Victoria-My Spirit Turned Emirates Co-Worker

Rajeev (Australia) and I on The Beaches of Dubai

You may be wondering what's next, and that's a great question, as it's one that I'm asking as well. I've got a few tools in my toolbox, and like a cat, I'm hoping I'll eventually land on my feet. I usually do.

If anything more exciting than me mowing the yard happens in the next month, I'll be sure to fill ya in. Thanks for joining me on my Emirates adventure, and yes, I do get to keep the hat. :)

“Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.”
- Steven Rogers, Hope Floats