General Mills invited 50 bloggers to visit their headquarters in Minneapolis for a special “Eat and Greet” event. So today, me and my travel buddy, Colin, boarded a plane together and headed to the land of 10,000 lakes.
I am very excited to learn more about a company whose brands have been a part of my life since childhood, and are still a staple in my home. Cheerios were my oldest child’s first ever finger food, and we collect Box Tops like they are going out of style.
On the plane today, I had the pleasure of meeting the ever so friendly Allison, a fellow Texan. She sat in the row in front of me, and before knowing we were both bloggers, she actually offered her assistance when I had a little, uh, issue.
Traveling with a baby has its challenges. But I never expected this:
Picture me wedged into a window seat with Colin, now 4 months and 15 pounds of baby, on my lap. Much to my dismay, I was sitting next to a male, who let’s just say was not a baby person.
Colin was fussier than his usual mellow self, and even refused to nurse during take off. About 20 minutes into the flight, he calmed down and sat quietly on my lap. I figured he would soon doze off. But I suddenly noticed the all-too-familiar tensing of the muscles followed by a loud grunt. Ok, no biggie, I would simply take him to the restroom for a quick change.
But then there was another grunt. And then I felt it. Warm and oozing, all over my lap and my jeans. Something about his angle, combined with the cheap generic diaper he was wearing, caused it to shoot right out the side onto me.
I sat there in complete shock for a moment and waited to see if anyone had noticed. No one did. I could not move my legs or stand, or it would have dripped all over the seat and floor. So I took a deep breath, and did the only thing I could think of out of sheer desperation. I reached up and pressed the flight attendant call button, and waited.
Thankfully, Colin has not yet started solids, and is strictly breastfed, so the smell was not immediately noticeable. The flight I was on happened to have 3 male flight attendants. Can you imagine? But Jerry, who answered my call, was delightful. I could only manage to stammer, “I need help”, and motioned to my lap with my chin. I was completely mortified.
He saw it, and said, “Ma’am, I see exactly what happened, I will be right back”. He immediately sprang into action. Moments later, he returned with wet rags, rubber gloves and a plastic bag. He patiently held the bag open for me as I cleaned up the disaster. Allison retrieved my carry on bag for me so I could change the now ruined outfit. Amazingly, nothing ended up on the seat or the floor.
Jerry then escorted me to the first class lavatory so I could change Colin and deal with my soiled jeans. I was seriously impressed with his helpful attitude and quick response. But then he said, “let me bring you some vodka”.
Um, ok, and I giggled. I know I was stressed, but a drink? He noticed my confused look and explained that the vodka was for my jeans. Apparently it is very useful for eliminating odors. Who knew?
After getting Colin all cleaned up and in a fresh outfit, I poured the tiny $6 bottle of Sky onto some paper towels, and attempted to remove the now apparent smell from my lap. It was actually quite effective!
I returned to my seat exhausted and sweating… but not smelling of you-know-what or vodka. It has no residual odor. Colin then promptly fell asleep for the remainder of the flight.
So all this… to share 2 lessons learned:
1. Never travel with generic diapers. They do serve a purpose at home, but I will stick with my Huggies from now on.
2. In a pinch, Vodka is an effective cleaning solution for soiled messes.
And that is how my trip began! What an adventure. By the way, I flew on American.
Tomorrow morning, we will enjoy breakfast at the General Mills headquarters (can you guess what we will be eating?), and taking a private tour of the Betty Crocker kitchens. There will be new products to sample, and a Q&A panel with the General Mills team. And eating. Lots of eating. And chatting with other bloggers. Did I mention eating?
And tomorrow afternoon, I will get back on a plane for a hopefully uneventful flight home.
I remember those days! Sounds like you were well taken care of!
Have a blast! 🙂
.-= Briana´s last blog ..FREE EOS Lipbalm (Seriously, you know I’m all over this one!) =-.
Um… remember who volunteered to be your “assistant” during this trip?
Mmmhmmm… yep… maybe you will remember that next time! 😉
Gracious, you had an exciting flight. I’m so glad you had help and that everything worked out well for you!
Give that sweet boy kisses for me, and you guys have a wonderful time! Miss you!
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Wow, yep I remember those days as well. Thank God for such a awesome fight attendant! Enjoy your trip!
.-= Ann´s last blog ..Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Corn-Pepper Relish =-.
That was great! What about the guy you sat next to? Was he mortified – LOL. Glad to hear your flight attendant was so helpful – Enjoy you trip!
P.S. Vodka also works for a sore throat (gargle!)
.-= Kitty | Coupon Divas´s last blog ..Stein Mart Printable Coupons for September 2009 =-.
LOL Thanks for the morning chuckle!! 🙂
Seriously, it is so nice to hear about someone actually getting great customer service for a change!
I hope the rest of your trip is less eventful!
You should call or write American and let them know how helpful and nice Jerry was – he sounds like he was a lifesaver!
Wow, thank you for my morning laugh! I am so glad you had much needed help! May you have fun tomorrow and a safe flight home!!
Ah…the joys of motherhood;)
.-= Felicia´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
Great read this morning…I would have helped you on that flight. I hope there are lots of people out there that would step up and help when help is needed:) have a great trip and eat some Cherrios for me
I am so jealous! Not of the whole diaper incident but of the wonderful opportunity you have with this visit! Can’t wait to read all about it.
.-= Julie´s last blog ..Cats On Tuesday: Academic Edition =-.
I truly enjoyed hearing about your morning. Yes, I agree with Amy, you should write American to let them know how wonderful Jerry was. Have a wonderful time at General Mills.
I have only been a subscriber for just short of a month, but I do enjoy the information. There are not of lot of KC blogs out there. Thanks for your hard work and time.
Oops!! You’re not in KC. Yes, that was my error. I’m still fairly new to couponing and I have joined more than one e-mail list. I did find one just for KC. I got you two mixed up. That doesn’t diminsh the appreciation I have for you. Thanks.
Sounds like a flight you will not soon forget. Who knew about vodka…good to know!
Vodka?!? Who knew…
Hope you are enjoying your tour and all the FOOD. Could you smuggle some out to me?
Have fun!
.-= AmazingGreis´s last blog ..GE you failed me… =-.
Sorry but I just had to laugh during this whole read~! I know it probably wasn’t at all funny to you at the time for sure but you have to admit that it was pretty amusing to say the least. Glad you had a great male attendant. This could of been so much worse than it ended up being if you hadn’t had his wonderful assistance. You may just want to call the airline and tell them what a wonderful job he did assisting you. He deserves a little recognition for his triumphant deed.
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Funny story that you’ll be able to share with Colin when he’s older :)!
What an exciting trip!
.-= Lori @ Shine Like Stars´s last blog ..Thank You, God! =-.
Ok you just gave me a chuckle and a moment down memory lane! I am so glad you had a great flight attendent! This will be one for the scrapbook! Hope your having a blast!
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That totally reminded me of my first flight with a child in lap. Luckily we didn’t have any poopy to change, but we were using cloth diapers. Luckily I got spat up on and peed on toward the end of our second leg of the journey there. Good thing you had a spare set of clothes in your carry on. If it were all checked it might have been a disaster.
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Oh, too funny! Although I am sure you didn’t think it was funny at the time. And who knew Vodka was such a multipurpose liquid! I hope you have fun on your trip!
Toni
.-= The Happy Housewife´s last blog ..Menu Planning 101 ~ Putting it all Together =-.
What a story. I’m in hysterics. I would have died! So glad they were helpful and I never heard vodka took out stains…but I too have had some seriously bad experiences with the generic diapers! Hope you have so much fun on the trip. Can’t wait to hear all about it! xoxo col
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I nearly lost it with the vodka offer!!!! LOL! I had no clue either!!! How funny! I think I would have reacted in the same way! Uhhh, ok?
.-= autumnesf´s last blog ..Mighty Mouse and the Lunch Lady =-.
Oh, Alyssa. That is the kind of thing that would happen to me. I can only imagine how your heart sank when you felt the ooze on your lap. “There is no loss without some great gain.” (Caroline Ingalls) You learned about an alternative use of vodka and you were dependent on the kindess of strangers. Praise God that it all ended up all right!
Oh my!! It is wonderful that when you need help people were there to help you.
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Ok. I don’t think it was your diaper. I think it has something with having the baby straddle your lap. On my first plane trip in 8 years I had all 3 kids. The littlest was about 7 months. I had the same experience, except it was only tinkle. I can’ t imagine what you went through with the other. I am glad it all worked out for you!
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