Thanks for calling the LUV airline. Happy Valentine's Day!

That's how I answered the phone all day yesterday. Seriously!

At SWA, Valentine's Day is one of our top holidays--second only to Halloween, really. Everyone wears red or pink, and we even get little Valentine presents--this year it was a heart-shaped calculator. And each year, on Valentine's Day, Colleen, Herb, and Gary present the "Heroes of the Heart" award to a behind-the-scenes work group. They wanted to honor those Employees who don't have the opportunity to come in contact with our Customers, but work so hard!

This year's award went to the Internal Customer Care Team. What do they do? Well, these seven ladies really and truly take care of our Southwest Family. For all 32,000 Employees, they keep track of joyous occasions like weddings and new babies. They nurture our Employees who are shipped off on Military leave, and they send care packages to both the soldiers and their families who are left behind. And, when Employees are going through a rough time, they send sympathy cards or notes to let Employees and their families know how much Southwest cares for them.

It may sound strange to think about having seven full-time Employees whose whole job is to care for their "Internal Customers." But really, I think it's a great testament to SWA putting its money where its mouth is. Anyone can claim to be full of LUV (as we'd say at Southwest), but really, it's a great testament to the heart of the company.

I was especially glad to hear that these ladies had won, because my personal family has been blessed by them specifically. When mom and Gary had cancer a year ago, I'd get regular calls from one of the ICC girls. She'd always ask how I was doing and if there were any updates on my parents. Then, sure enough, I'd get a call from mom a couple of days later telling me that Southwest had sent a package. Sometimes it was food--a basket of cheese and crackers, or fruit. Other times it would be a blanket, or a bottle of lotion. Somehow, they even knew not to send flowers since mom couldn't have them. It still amazes me, not just that a company would care for what was happening to their Employee, but that they would care so much about my family too. In fact, after Nana died just two months ago, I received more cards from folks at Southwest than anywhere else. I am truly blessed to work where people care so much. Amazing.

It's a neat idea, to have a group set aside to care so much for others. In the Christian world, we'd call it "love your neighbor as you love yourself." At SWA, we call it "The Golden Rule." Either way, I think it's something we could certainly see more of in all of our communities, and I certainly celebrate the honor paid to the ICC team this Valentine's Day.