Posted on 01/31/2016 12:38:08 PM PST by drewh
One of my daughters (16) is looking at the possibility of being a flight attendant for the free travel. (My mother is a USAir retiree, once secretary to the CEO, and my cousin is a USAir pilot, and my uncle is a retired American pilot, so it’s a kind of a family tradition.)
I warned my daughter that it’s hard work subject to insane union rule, but if you can meet the requirements, it is one way to see the world.
My first assignment was on a Martin from Kansas City to Los Angeles with stops in Wichita, Amarillo and Phoenix. Took 8 hours. We had a short layover and then flew the same route back. Repeated three times a week. First check was for the huge gross amount of $244 for the month. Thought I had died and gone to heaven. Served three full meals complete with linen coverings on the trays, real dishes, sterling silver utensils, wine glasses and excellent food.
We did get to know our repeat travelers well, names and pictures of their wives and children, favorite magazines, how they liked their drinks, etc. Was kind of like old home week with some of them. Just a fun time in my life. Yes, there were some that were part of the “Coffee, Tea or Me” group.
I quit flying anywhere about six years ago after I got in a dust-up with a TSA agent over their inspection techniques. My grandson, who was with me, was afraid they were going to put me in jail. Then had words with a flight attendant who wouldn’t let me sit on the exit row because she said I was too old. Told her I was a flight attendant before she was even born and guaranteed I’d be the first one off in the event of an emergency. She was so fat I don’t know how she could even fit in the chute.
In the meantime, I drive everywhere I go. No more flying until TSA is gone.
Thanks for sharing those memories .
I always wear a suit for a funeral. Always. Even if I don’t know the person that well. It is a matter of respect to me.
Just look around at a typical Mass these days.
Your welcome. Just musings from freer, more fun, better times in the past.
Surprised that no one suggested these two could have been lesbians having a fight.
Anecdote———40+ years ago my dad had his orders for Da Nang changed and they sent him to Korea instead. The Air Force had just made the spring switch from winter to summer uniforms but he was flying in his winters with an overcoat, gloves and scarf. Some of the young guys on this MAC charter flight made a bit of fun at this.
The flight stopped in Alaska for a few hours. There was a spring snowstorm, windy blowing good and about 18 degrees. No walkways, it was down the stairs, across the ramp to the terminal. The heating system in the terminal was down undergoing repairs, only heat being a fireplace in a lounge.
Don’t know what airline but they had a middle aged male purser and the rest were stews. The purser had a parka, gloves, hat and had tried to warn the girls to bring some warm clothes but none had listened. My old man and him shot the breeze for awhile and had a few laughs.
My dad had previous weather travelling experience in Germany, Japan, England, Iceland, Canada, Alaska and northern US, sometimes in unheated AF planes and learned to be prepared. He and the purser had some gentle fun rubbing it in :<}
When back in the air he went to the head and changed into his summers.
Surprised that no one suggested these two could have been lesbians having a fight.”
Me, too, particularly on FR. Funny story. We had two uniforms, too. But on flights from KC to LAX we always wore what worked in KC weather and then sweltered when we got to Phoenix and LAX. But ladies don’t sweat, we just glisten. LOL
Ha ha ha. In my case I glistened like Shamu.
Maybe one of the stews was moving in on the other one’s girlfriend. Ugggghhh———
bfl
Thought just hit my head——Ouch!!-——did the airports have lockers you could rent and leave extra clothes when you were on a regular run?
No extra clothes and luggage, as I recall, was incredibly small. Always carried an extra pair of uniform heels, a clean shirt wrapped in tissue so it wouldn’t wrinkle so much, extra stockings, an iron and an ample supply of perfume and deodorant. Fabrics back then were 100 percent cotton or wool so they held up very well but we always were fighting the wrinkle issue with the cotton. Suspect people today would not do so well with the same constraints.
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