Be kind in the sky... but also don’t touch me

It is funny I posted on Facebook before this flight about how much I love hearing my passengers stories on my flights. I pray that God will use me before most flights... sometimes I am just tired and think it might be easier to just be invisible that day. This day God gave me lots of opportunities! 

       So last night I got to snuggle a sweet baby whose grandma was struggling to get him and his 2 year old brother on the plane. I will always happily hold your babies! I don't know the whole story but the grandparents were taking these sweet babies home with them for the next few months. They were a little overwhelmed and we happily filled their bottles with milk and gave support whenever we could. Way to go grandparents for being so amazing to those kids!

       Next we had a tour group of around 50 Chinese people. If you are a flight attendant I can stop this story right here. Because you KNOW! This group was very nice but there are some cultural differences and a huge language barrier that can be challenging on the plane. So after filling all of their bottles with hot water. We took the cart out to start the service. As we pass the large group they are all trying to grab things off the cart and grab us to stop us. We start at the front of the plane and work our way back. When we get to the group we give them drinks and they drink them as fast as they can and hold the cup out for more. No problem but I kid you not this goes on for 5 or 6 refills each! All the while the people in the next row are trying to grab drinks off the cart because we are not to them yet. I finally look at my flying partner across the cart and desperately tell her to pull the cart past! We are now giggling because we can't make it past these rows. Their was one gentleman who had 5 no joke 5 glasses of milk some coffee, oj and water this was in one stop. He was mad when we ran out of milk and every time we passed him, for the next 4 hours glared at us and said MILK! when he got off the plane he also glared at the girls up front and said MILK! They were confused but us girls in the back we KNOW! BAHAHA 

       The next girl had a super tight connection to Chicago. I told her we would move her closer to the front so she could get off fast. Her dad is dying and she was trying to make it home in time to say goodbye. As we got closer to LAX her Chicago flight was delayed and I thought this was  good because she would for sure make it, however she was now going to miss her connecting flight . Turns out that flight was canceled so I told her to talk to the customer service agents when she got to LAX and that I would be praying she made it home in time. She was of course crying and desperate to get home. I told her I would go with her to customer service. She was alone and upset and needed a hug. So we went to see what they could do and of course it was canceled due to weather so it was a mess. All the other flights were full. The agent was so sweet and checked other airlines and eventually got her on our next flight to her destination. As we waited to hear this she hugged me crying and thanked me for waiting. She said I am sure you have other places you need to be! Nope it is after midnight all my kids are fast asleep and THIS is exactly where I need to be! I gave her my number and told her I would continue to pray for her. She messaged me that she got on the flight and made it home in time to see her dad! I am so thankful I was able to be there for her! I really did nothing but be there to hug and cry and pray! Sometimes that is enough! 

     These stories are why I love my job! We can be a difference in someones life if we are intentional and show kindness and even some grace in all we do and say. I fail sometimes for sure but this is what I strive for all of the days in every aspect of my life on the ground or in the air! 

     

   

Rules to live by on the plane

Safety-
A few helpful hints from your girl in blue. Here is the truth Flight Attendants do not enforce rules to be bossy. I know shocking right? We have to comply with both airline rules and federal regulations. We can and will be fined if we do not enforce these things. Some seem petty and small and some are obvious, but ALL must be followed. Here are a few reasons why we have certain rules.  If I was explaining it to small children I would say because you will die!!!! LOL! So here is the expanded explanation.

1. Your bags can not block the space at your feet. Even if you don't mind! Or be in the aisle. Yes people sometimes just drop their bag in the aisle and walk away and are annoyed and confused as to why this is not ok. So here it is if we  have to evacuate you are not going to be able to get out if there are bags blocking your way. It may be dark or smokey and your best shot is a clear path. So stow your bag!

2. Unplug from the outlets for take off and landing. Think about it if that cord is entangled in your legs and there is an evacuation you could trip. I am pretty sure it will be ok for the 5 minutes of taxi and take off for you to unplug.

3. Remain seated during turbulence... Even if you have to go to the bathroom. There is not actually a magic bubble around you that makes it ok. Not only can you hurt yourself but you could also become a projectile yourself and hurt others. We are required to tell you the seatbelt sign is on. We can NOT say it is ok to be up or we will be fined and if you hurt yourself the first thing out of your mouth will be "but they said it was ok"... So Yes you can go but NO I did not say it was ok. This is usually a long back and forth with the passenger saying but I have to go and me saying the seatbelt sign is on, so can I go? I have to tell you the seatbelt sign is on. But I really have to go so is it ok? UGGGG

4. Put your mask on before helping others. This is another important one. There is a little thing called hypoxia. So if you are flying at 35,000 feet the effects will take approximately 30sec. -1 min. and you will no longer be able to put your own mask on. SOOOO make sure you put your mask on, then your kids! Also hold on because the Captain will need to get the plane to 10,000 ft as quick as possible. This will make the air breathable even with out it being pressurized.

Here are a few more that are not necessarily safety but still need to be followed.

1. Do not hand me your bag of throw up! I mean not ever! That is gross! I don't know you, you may have the plague for all I know and even if you don't, puke is GROSS!!! You need to put it in the lavatory trash. I can not put it in the galley trash because that is our kitchen and we serve the food and drinks in that area. It is not sanitary. Just use some common sense here would you want to be handed a bag of puke? This same rule applies for your babies diaper. I do NOT want to touch that either! Nope not ever!

2. If you smell like stink PLEASE for all that is good put some deodorant on! Some of you are rank. We are for sure judging you! The smells I have been subjected to are just wrong!

3. If you stretch your legs out in the aisle this is fine. However I may trip on them. It is like a tricky maze trying to get through the aisle add a night flight and forget it. You do not need to give me dirty looks or yell at me. There is only one way up and down that row and you are blocking it. Also there is a good chance I am going to nail you with the cart. I can't see over the top of it so if your leg, head or arm are hanging way over... I do feel bad and will apologize. But honestly some of this is on you.

4. Do not walk around the plane with no shoes on. It is gross! I am pretty confident it is not water on the floor of the lavatory. Oh and if you poo or pee all over the seat please for all that is good wipe it up!

The No Fly List for Crew

So here is the deal... 99% of the crew I work with are AMAZING! I mean instant friends for life, nicest, hardest working people you will ever meet! These are not the people we are going to discuss in this post. I am talking about that special 1%. These people are a whole other animal! Some of you will be surprised to hear it is only 1% because the awful just radiates and ruins it for everyone! We all have our NO FLY LIST of crew members we do not ever care to work with again! There are people who are notorious for being awful and when I finally fly with them I just silently nod my head and think awwww I heard about you bring on the crazy!When passengers hug me and tell me they are sorry I have to work with such a mean nasty person and ask how they can write them up... there is a problem! Being the mature person that I am I will make faces to the passengers as the other attendant turns away. Huge wide eyes or rolling the eyes works well. This has 2 results, first the passenger now loves me and realizes I am not on board with the other persons shenanigans and second I am in this with them we are now a team trying to survive the crazy together. So here are a few examples of nonsense over the last few months. These are all real true stories as I can not even make this stuff up! I am not a wizard! This is not all from one flight and names have maybe been changed to protect the crazy.
 
        When introduced to fellow crew member and they say their name is Mrs. D. Yes she wants everyone same age, older, younger, passengers all the everybodys to call her Mrs. D . This my friends is a red flag! So we move on to the flight. She is literally the slowest person I have ever worked with! She is on the food cart in front of me and I am working the beverage cart with another girl. At one point I leaned down to get something at the same time as her and I touched her. She proceeded to angrily tell me to BACK UP at least 3 rows from her. No problem! I also had to ring up about half of her orders because she just was so overwhelmed. So we finally finish,  and at some point later in the flight I pass my her in the aisle. She is a larger woman so as we passed it is a bit of a squeeze. Mrs. D comes into the galley and starts yelling ( I am not even kidding YELLING at me) IF YOU BUMP INTO ME ONE MORE TIME I AM GOING TO SERIOUSLY LOSE IT ON YOU!!!!! I look at her and say " What? Are you serious?" Mrs.D " YES I AM SERIOUS YOU BUMPED INTO ME TWICE NOW AND IT BETTER NOT HAPPEN AGAIN OR ELSE!" Me " Do you think I am bumping you on purpose we just passed in the aisle..." Mrs.D angrily and still yelling" I AM KIDDING LEARN TO TAKE A JOKE!!!!" Me " Got it" make the what even face and avoid this crazy for the rest of the flight! Also I have decided if I ever fly with her again I am going to make only her call me Mrs. G I am quite confident this will go over well!

       Sometimes you read the crazy wrong this is always a little surprising when they seem great and end up wack! So I am flying a 2 day trip with this girl who seemed super nice when we met. So sitting on the jumpseat and she never I mean NEVER stops talking! This in itself is fine. However she is telling me the craziest stories and half way through everyone of them she explains she is writing a book and maybe I should just read the rest of the story there. Then stops and starts a new story that is equally confusing and again stops and says I can read it in this book someday. Literally 497 times she mentions this book! She is also concerned she may have dementia because she sometimes forgets peoples names. I assure her this happens to a lot of people and that I too have a hard time with names. She assures me this is more than that and she may have it. As the days go on she gets stranger she is extremely paranoid and thinks everyone is out to get her. She puts lots of stickers on her car some with the names of other cities and changes them often so no one following her will know what city she lives in. She tells me the people you may know feature on Facebook is people from the plane who are looking you up and stalking you! I explain I am pretty sure it is people who you have mutual friends with and they think you might know them too... Nope for her it is just passengers looking her up... People for 12 hours each day I had to endure this nonsense! Also after this trip I am pretty sure she either forgot to take her meds or may actually have dementia! Again she was the sweetest! Just completely WACK!

       One lady hated I mean HATED the other guy we were flying with! She proceeded to nonstop for the entire 5 hour flight explain all the reasons she hated this guy. About every third story would include a situation where she was giving him a ride somewhere or going out with him somewhere. Then right back to how much she hates him and how crazy he is. Apparently they fly all the time together. Also they write each other up all the time to get the other in trouble. I am not sure what even was going on there! I do not want to know! I was so thankful to get off that flight! Thank God they are from another base and I will probably never have to endure that ridiculousness again!

     When you meet the flight attendants you have heard horror stories of for YEARS and they do not disappoint! I have heard how they have made people cry and others are just afraid! I assume these stories can not possibly be true and yet I know they are. I am super easy going! I will do whatever and LOVE my job! However if you feel the need to Yell at me for setting a glass down on the counter to pull the bin out to put it away or giving a passenger a drink when you feel we do not have time. I will stop you right there. See here is the thing, I am a grown up. I do not need you to scream at me for well anything. If you have an issue use your big girl words in your indoor voice.  Just NO! The look on their faces when I don't allow them to bully me is priceless! This momma has no time for that nonsense and in most cases they then back down when they realize I am not going to play!

   

The Bins!

Helpful hints from your girl in blue-
   Lets talk overhead bin space! First off the bin above your seat is not exclusively yours. It is shared space. Just take that in for a moment. So if only 2 or 3 bags fit in the bin and there are 3-6 of you in the row do the math not everyones bag will fit in that one bin. Also some people put 2 bags in the bin even though they are not supposed to. So now there is even less room. Telling the flight attendant that there is someones stuff in your spot is actually amusing! Demanding we move other peoples bags so yours can go there is also amusing. Other solutions that won't fly...  telling us to stow it for you, leaving it on the seat, blocking your exit by leaving it at your feet, and my favorite leaving it in the aisle as if this will work. Our solution, we will happily check it for free or you can look around and find another open spot. Also entertaining is when your bag is hanging 5 inches out of the bin and you think this will work. It is actually impossible to close the bin this way and if left open said suitcase will fly out and hit someone. Not ideal! So please do not be that passenger!  Another tip with bags if you bring it you sling it! If it is to heavy or high for you to lift check it! If you are injured and can not lift it, check it! I would need back surgery if I had to lift every passengers bag and the company will not cover that injury because they have told us not to lift bags.
 

Medical Emergencies in the air

Sometimes on flights medical emergencies happen. Thankfully there are almost always doctors, nurses , EMTs ... on board. On my last flight we had an older gentleman from China and his wife on board. About 2 hours into our 5 hour flight the wife starts ringing the call button and frantically shaking her husband. I approach and ask if he is ok? He says he is but she says he is not. The language barrier is huge and trying to figure out what exactly is happening is not easy! After accessing him and getting another flight attendant who happens to also be a nurse! She starts treating him and I move the wife who is now having a panic attack, can't breathe is hitting her chest and almost passes out. Bottom line she is worried about her husband! We talk and I get her to calm down and breathe. After a few minutes she is now hugging me and crying. She mentioned God in broken English so I asked if she would like to pray with me? She said yes so while she was hugging me I began to pray. It was a sweet moment! My flying partner was amazing on the medical end and if you need a hug or to pray or cry I am your girl! It was determined by a doctor onboard who stepped up to help that he could make it all the way to our destination. We kept the oxygen flowing and watched them closely for the rest of the night. Paramedics met us at the gate and whisked them away. I am always so thankful for the people and tools we have onboard. I can tell you it made the time fly by! Usually we get sleepy on the allnighters but we never even had a chance to sit down! When I am in my blue polyester you never know what the day will bring!

Joe Reilly

Sometimes you meet amazing people and this is one of them. This is Joe Reilly today May 7th is his 97th birthday. He was in the 101st Airborne Division. He was a paratrooper and his first jump in battle was the D-Day invasion of Normandy. I got to listen to stories of his life and was mesmerized by him! I only wish I could have listened longer. He has made trips back to Normandy and the other battle grounds he fought in. I am so lucky to have met him. I found a story on www.nbcnews.com search the journey to Normandy . Joe is on there as well as other Veterans telling their stories. Check it out! We made an announcement thanking Joe for his service. He was seated in row 1 and had to wait for his wheelchair when we landed. As people deplaned they would stop shake his hand and thank him. It was so sweet. I teared up as I watched. He always gives a thumbs up it is his signature move. So that is why we are doing it in the picture. He is a hero and I am glad I had a chance to meet him! Happy Birthday Joe!

Adventures in the first class lav

Adventures in the First Class lav~
Seriously you may think people in first class would know how to behave. Alas you would be wrong!       On my last flight there was a lady who seemed a bit unstable and explained she had a "melt down" on her last flight. I smiled and told her we were not going to be having any of that today! Although she thought I was kidding I was not! Fast forward to later in the flight... Unstable lady gets up to use lav. She asked for a paper towel to open the door. She does not want any germs. Ok no problem the plane can be gross. So she finishes and smiles at me and exclaims she did not touch anything! Then returns to her seat. A gentlemen then goes to go in, but comes out because crazy left a huge mess! She did not flush and left paper towels all over the floor, sink and around the toilet. Oh and dropped the towel to open the door outside the bathroom. Umm thanks! I decided to wait to say anything till she went in again. Thankfully she did not. So she was sparred a scolding.

Same flight while I was in the galley making breakfast the man in 2F goes into the lav. As he comes out an overwhelming smell of smoke comes with him. I go in and the smell is crazy strong! We search the trash for cigarette buts and find none. The other girl confronts passenger and the Captain calls wanting to know who the F is smoking on his plane!!!! You see it is a Federal Offense to smoke on the plane! So the Captain graciously says if the man apologizes profusely and swears to never do it again he will forgive. Any other response and the cops can meet the plane. Well he denied it. Said it had to have been the passenger before him. I can assure you it was not! So supervisor met the plane and questioned him. Again he claimed it was not him and that he does not even smoke. They were continuing on to another city so we alerted the crew, filed a report, and made a statement to the police. Not sure what the results were I had to run to another flight. The Houston airport is ridiculous it took me 30 min to get to my next gate and I was walking really fast.

So if you want to be a flight attendants favorite please do not make me touch anything in the lav and don't try to burn down my plane!