Getting off on the wrong foot with your flight attendants is not a smart move. Regardless if the flight is 30 minutes or 8 hours. Coming on board with a bad attitude isnt a good idea since the flight attendants are the ones who guide safety, beverages and all that. If things start out bad he/she will remember that about you. Then that person becomes the topic of galley gossip. Not only where you an ass to that one flight attendant but the rest of the crew will soon learn who you are. Just be nice and play by the rules. If we ask you to do something just do it. The FAA has regulations they want the flight attendants to inform everyone about. If we are ask you to do something it's because your out of regulation.
So today this lady came on with her baby and asked me if the flight was full and like most flights we were going to be full. She didn't like that. She didn't want to be uncomfortable with her baby and husband. Of corse the solution to that is buy another seat. Having boarded first she had plenty of time to change her baby's diaper before the door closes. Did she? No! She complained to her husband how the plane was too small a d they don't have room and blah blah blah. While taxiing out to the runway she put her tray table down and props the little one on it to change his fucking diaper. Lady your just nasty! People use the table to eat off of. Would you change your little one on your kitchen table? Hell no! Later on while I am eating my salad she try's to hand me the dirty diaper. Seriously? I am eating my one meal I am going to have today. I am not taking your kids dirty diaper. Of corse this mom is a classy mom and pops her boob out to fed him with no blanket. The child and her both fall asleep and her boob is still hanging out of her shirt. Have some respect lady! For yourself and everyone around you. Of corse the husband gets upset when everyone passing to use the lav looks at her tit. Cover it up no one wants to see that.
My airline assigns seats to everyone so it's expected you take your assign seat. This spoiled bitch with her fake designer purse decides she is going to sit up front, her seat assignment was in row 12 but she didn't feel like walking back there. A very tall male passenger boarded and said that someone was in his seat, his seat was where little miss prissy had chosen to sit. She told him that she got on first and it was her choice to sit there and that he would have to take her seat in row 12. Nope doesn't work like that on my airline, last I checked the side of my plane doesn't say Southwest. She refused to move. It got down to the point where we gave her 2 options. Move to your assigned seat or take another flight. I don't think I've ever seen anyone move so quickly!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Alcohol lies and bad overnights
I've been taking a break from the blog world and social network. Hey I am back! The past few weeks have been hell. My personal life with co workers has been completely trashed. But I always told myself I am not here to make friends, I am here to do a job. I just happen to be friends with co workers. This isn't high school (well sometimes it feels like it minus report cards) where I have to worry about fitting in. Because people from my company know about my blog and for the protection of myself and the ones involved I can not write about what happened. I've been sworn to keep this on a need to know bases.
I used to really wonder why so many people don't go out on layovers. I can understand the saving money part. Now I completely understand why so many people choose to slam click. I had a very bad overnight. Alcohol got way out of hand and feelings were hurt. Friendships were broken and ruined. Of corse I wish none of this ever happened but the past is the past. I am putting this behind me as we speak.
Advice to the ones like me who love to go out on overnights. I am the party girl. I am almost certain that's what I am known for. If you drink be legal by your company to consume alcohol. If you go out with the crew make sure it's people you REALLY trust. Be aware of what is said and done. Always know a exit path. Don't be scared to ask for help. Ok enough of this depressing lecturing shit. Next blog please!
I used to really wonder why so many people don't go out on layovers. I can understand the saving money part. Now I completely understand why so many people choose to slam click. I had a very bad overnight. Alcohol got way out of hand and feelings were hurt. Friendships were broken and ruined. Of corse I wish none of this ever happened but the past is the past. I am putting this behind me as we speak.
Advice to the ones like me who love to go out on overnights. I am the party girl. I am almost certain that's what I am known for. If you drink be legal by your company to consume alcohol. If you go out with the crew make sure it's people you REALLY trust. Be aware of what is said and done. Always know a exit path. Don't be scared to ask for help. Ok enough of this depressing lecturing shit. Next blog please!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Things to do on layovers!
Besides sleep......
If your hotel is near a car dealership go test drive a fun car. Yes you may get the sales pitch but who cares. It's a free ride around your location and you never know what you may find!
Check out local bands. If your layover time permits and your in a downtown location go to a near by bar or pub if a local band is performing a gig. I've done this before and the people I met were amazingly nice. Good or bad music you can really never go wrong with a local band.
Eat at a local diner. You can eat mcdonalds any where but if a town has a diner or a dish they are known for try something different. The idea for this came about when I was watching the tv show man vs food.
Take a tour. For example Atlanta visit the coke faculty or weather channel or CNN. Seattle visit the boeing museum. Boston visit Fenway park. The list of tours goes on and on!
Sing karaoke! Something about being away from home and being in front of people you will never see again takes my stage fright away. Of corse a shot of liquid courage is always a plus!
Get a tattoo. Well maybe your not the tattoo type but I am. I have five and want more. I had a overnight in Austin and the entire crew got tattoos! No regrets there.
Visit a theme park. Of corse this is for the roller coaster types and if your layover is long enough.
This list is just a few things I have done on layovers. I love my rest and sometimes I just slam click but for the times I dont I take full advantage of my layover. Big cities and little towns are always Full of any excitement you just have to find it! Get to know your crew better and meeting locals is fun. Of corse this list goes on and on! Get out and be creative
If your hotel is near a car dealership go test drive a fun car. Yes you may get the sales pitch but who cares. It's a free ride around your location and you never know what you may find!
Check out local bands. If your layover time permits and your in a downtown location go to a near by bar or pub if a local band is performing a gig. I've done this before and the people I met were amazingly nice. Good or bad music you can really never go wrong with a local band.
Eat at a local diner. You can eat mcdonalds any where but if a town has a diner or a dish they are known for try something different. The idea for this came about when I was watching the tv show man vs food.
Take a tour. For example Atlanta visit the coke faculty or weather channel or CNN. Seattle visit the boeing museum. Boston visit Fenway park. The list of tours goes on and on!
Sing karaoke! Something about being away from home and being in front of people you will never see again takes my stage fright away. Of corse a shot of liquid courage is always a plus!
Get a tattoo. Well maybe your not the tattoo type but I am. I have five and want more. I had a overnight in Austin and the entire crew got tattoos! No regrets there.
Visit a theme park. Of corse this is for the roller coaster types and if your layover is long enough.
This list is just a few things I have done on layovers. I love my rest and sometimes I just slam click but for the times I dont I take full advantage of my layover. Big cities and little towns are always Full of any excitement you just have to find it! Get to know your crew better and meeting locals is fun. Of corse this list goes on and on! Get out and be creative
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Stressful flying partner
Its been a very stressful week in the skies for me. On the aircraft I work on only two flight attendants are required. So we of course work very close as a team with just the two of us. For the most part its nice but about ten percent of the time I get a person who just doesn't work as a team or just doesn't do the job by the manual as instructed. I am not perfect by any means so before anyone thinks that I am 100% by the book 24/7 this is just my rants and vents. By the book I mean by the flight attendant manual (FAM). On the first day I met my flying partner she was already on the plane before me and had made herself comfortable in the position that I had planned on working that day. According to my FAM the senior flight attendant will decided where they wish to work. I had told her that I wish to be flight attendant A today (front position). In a very senior base like mine its unusual that I get to decide where I work being that I am a pretty junior line holder. With that said she just looked at me and said oh OK well I thought since you were senior you would work the B position (aft galley). I told her to never assume where the senior person wants to work, always ask. At least that is what I do. Since we were on a 3 day trip I told her we could switch every day. Not all flight attendants in the company see it that way but it drives me crazy to be in the same position everyday for a paring.
This flight attendant is fairly new but has been out of class long enough to know the rules. She was all over the place and complained about everything. And when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING! Venting is OK but when you cant find anything positive about your job, maybe this isn't the job for you. Of course we all vent about that one passenger who wont get off the phone or but their seat back up for landing. While I performed the safety demo she read the demo from the aft galley. But she didn't read the demo in order they way its suppose to be so it threw me off my retinue, which made ME look like a fool in front of the passengers. I have close to 4 years flight attendant experience, she has 6 months. I don't like looking stupid in front of my cabin. I asked her why she kept skipping portions of the safety demo and her answer was oh I kept loosing my place while reading. While I have no response to that I kept thinking maybe you should read over whats written in the manual, take your time while announcing the demo and you should be fine. The demo is nothing to joke around about, this is really important info!
I always give the B flight attendant space to set up for the beverage service. Some of our flights are short but over 200 miles and we have to do a full beverage service. On a 37 minute flight and 86 passengers to serve there is really no time to waste. I usually wait until the plane levels off before attempting to drag a 200 pound cart into the cabin. I like to work smart, not hard! I go to the back to try and help out and she is sitting down reading a book. In the nicest way possible I said we need to prepare the cart and brew the coffee etc. She continued to read her book so I started to brew the coffee and get the cart sat up. Finally she put her book down and said to me that she was going to get that done. Of course I am thinking no your not but its OK we are all set and ready to go. Passenger interaction is great especially on long flights. This wasn't a long flight so the service had to be fast. She didn't think of it that way. While I got about 6 rows done she had served 4 drinks. She was too busy flirting with all the male passengers. We moved the cart and again I had finished about 6 or 7 rows and she was still talking to the first row she had started on. Come on lady your not on a date your are work. SERVE SOME DAMN BEVERAGES!!!! This entire trip was nothing but full loads and short flights with beverage services. As you can image I was getting very tired of pulling my own weight and some of hers.
The first day of the trip we had to report at the airport very early so by the time we got to the hotel for our layover I was very tired from doing double duty and being up at 3:30am. All I wanted to do was nap or just sleep off the entire layover. She wanted to do out for dinner and drinks. I told her maybe and if I am up for it ill call her room. I was taking such a good nap and then the room phone rang. ERRRRAHH back to nap I go. An hour later I hear *BANG BANG BANG* on my door. Its a bad nightmare that wont go away. I got up to look out the peephole and it was her. At this point I just ignored it and she went away. What part of I am taking a nap and I don't plan on leaving the hotel room until tomorrow didn't she understand?!
The complying continued on the way to the airport the next day. She was on the phone with her kid and when she hung up she was crying. I asked her what was wrong (I wish I didn't!) and she said she is missing her sons baseball game. Then she said its not right how she is never home with her kids, she hates hotel life and wants to be home every night. Well I am not sure if you realize this or not but your a flight attendant which requires you to travel 100% of the time and be away from home for days. If you hate it that much then quit or wait about 10 years until you can be the number one line holder and get whatever you want. She will probably quit in 3 months.
I know this blog is getting seriously long, and if you have made it this far without staring off into space then I thank you for reading! By day three of our trip I have had it and refused to pull more weight then I had too. As far as compliance checks I did my portion of the plane same with cleaning up I only cleaned what I was suppose to do. I HATE doing that, we are a team we should work together but if I showed her that I would do her share of things she would slack off and get lazy. You do your half and Ill do mine from now on its SOP standard operating procedures. I really hate that because I love working as a team. I want to show the passengers that flight attendants can still be pleasant despite what is thrown in front of us everyday. I want people to see I love my job and take some pride in it. I feed off other peoples energy and when there is nothing but negative energy it brings me down. If there is something I can say to everyone that's a part of any type of crew its play your part in the team, there is seriously no I in TEAM!
This flight attendant is fairly new but has been out of class long enough to know the rules. She was all over the place and complained about everything. And when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING! Venting is OK but when you cant find anything positive about your job, maybe this isn't the job for you. Of course we all vent about that one passenger who wont get off the phone or but their seat back up for landing. While I performed the safety demo she read the demo from the aft galley. But she didn't read the demo in order they way its suppose to be so it threw me off my retinue, which made ME look like a fool in front of the passengers. I have close to 4 years flight attendant experience, she has 6 months. I don't like looking stupid in front of my cabin. I asked her why she kept skipping portions of the safety demo and her answer was oh I kept loosing my place while reading. While I have no response to that I kept thinking maybe you should read over whats written in the manual, take your time while announcing the demo and you should be fine. The demo is nothing to joke around about, this is really important info!
I always give the B flight attendant space to set up for the beverage service. Some of our flights are short but over 200 miles and we have to do a full beverage service. On a 37 minute flight and 86 passengers to serve there is really no time to waste. I usually wait until the plane levels off before attempting to drag a 200 pound cart into the cabin. I like to work smart, not hard! I go to the back to try and help out and she is sitting down reading a book. In the nicest way possible I said we need to prepare the cart and brew the coffee etc. She continued to read her book so I started to brew the coffee and get the cart sat up. Finally she put her book down and said to me that she was going to get that done. Of course I am thinking no your not but its OK we are all set and ready to go. Passenger interaction is great especially on long flights. This wasn't a long flight so the service had to be fast. She didn't think of it that way. While I got about 6 rows done she had served 4 drinks. She was too busy flirting with all the male passengers. We moved the cart and again I had finished about 6 or 7 rows and she was still talking to the first row she had started on. Come on lady your not on a date your are work. SERVE SOME DAMN BEVERAGES!!!! This entire trip was nothing but full loads and short flights with beverage services. As you can image I was getting very tired of pulling my own weight and some of hers.
The first day of the trip we had to report at the airport very early so by the time we got to the hotel for our layover I was very tired from doing double duty and being up at 3:30am. All I wanted to do was nap or just sleep off the entire layover. She wanted to do out for dinner and drinks. I told her maybe and if I am up for it ill call her room. I was taking such a good nap and then the room phone rang. ERRRRAHH back to nap I go. An hour later I hear *BANG BANG BANG* on my door. Its a bad nightmare that wont go away. I got up to look out the peephole and it was her. At this point I just ignored it and she went away. What part of I am taking a nap and I don't plan on leaving the hotel room until tomorrow didn't she understand?!
The complying continued on the way to the airport the next day. She was on the phone with her kid and when she hung up she was crying. I asked her what was wrong (I wish I didn't!) and she said she is missing her sons baseball game. Then she said its not right how she is never home with her kids, she hates hotel life and wants to be home every night. Well I am not sure if you realize this or not but your a flight attendant which requires you to travel 100% of the time and be away from home for days. If you hate it that much then quit or wait about 10 years until you can be the number one line holder and get whatever you want. She will probably quit in 3 months.
I know this blog is getting seriously long, and if you have made it this far without staring off into space then I thank you for reading! By day three of our trip I have had it and refused to pull more weight then I had too. As far as compliance checks I did my portion of the plane same with cleaning up I only cleaned what I was suppose to do. I HATE doing that, we are a team we should work together but if I showed her that I would do her share of things she would slack off and get lazy. You do your half and Ill do mine from now on its SOP standard operating procedures. I really hate that because I love working as a team. I want to show the passengers that flight attendants can still be pleasant despite what is thrown in front of us everyday. I want people to see I love my job and take some pride in it. I feed off other peoples energy and when there is nothing but negative energy it brings me down. If there is something I can say to everyone that's a part of any type of crew its play your part in the team, there is seriously no I in TEAM!
Monday, April 18, 2011
The ones up there.
Can't fly with them,and you can't fly with out them. You love to hate them and hate to love them. They are only good for one thing, flying the airplane. Most have little to no personality. Only a door separates them from the rest of the world. If you haven't guessed what I am talking about, it's the pilots. Don't get me wrong, most of our pilots in our small base are great. But by day 3 or day 4 of a trip I can't stand them. It's all laughs and jokes on the first day but closer to the end of a trip I want to slap them. This one I am working with now. It's his last trip with my company so I wanted to be nice. On day one of our trip I made cupcakes as he requested. I didn't make ONE cupcake I made the entire batch. Like anyone else would. I bring them to him, I got a thanks but what am I suppose to do with these. What the heck dude, you asked for cupcakes so I brought them too you. I even called him the day before the trip to see if I could bring them by his apartment so he wouldnt have to carry them around. Well he doesnt think like I do so he said no just bring them when we start the trip. So I got to listen to him whine about carrying the cupcakes. He later smashed them into his lunch box. Your welcome and that's the last time I bring baked goods on a trip.
Earlier today the cabin smelled like pee and I couldn't stand the smell. After the passengers got off I sprayed some air freshener. My captain asked me if I had sprayed something and I told him yes and why. A few minutes later he said to never do that again because it's offensive. The cabin smelling like pee is offensive. I made it smell better so the passengers wouldn't complain. I know I am not the only flight attendant who keeps air freshener in their bag.
On our way to canada tonight the first officer began to bug me again. I'm good about giving the flight deck crew the paper work for customs. However I was busy doing my FAA related duties and the fo just couldn't wait any longer for the paper work. So he tries to go thru my stuff and I told him not too. Just be patient and I will give it too you when i have a chance. Being the adult baby he is bugged me until he got his way. Yes this is the same fo who I made cupcakes for! Not to mention all day the crew never had a chance to get off the plane and eat. Before our flight to Canada he ran off the plane to get himself dinner, did he offer to get anyone else dinner? No because he always thinks about him and no one else. Again this guy is leaving our company to go fly else where. Which is probably a good thing because he slept or attempted to sleep with most of the flight attendants in base. And when there is only 43 flight attendants in base, word gets around fast. So good for him for running away!
Earlier today the cabin smelled like pee and I couldn't stand the smell. After the passengers got off I sprayed some air freshener. My captain asked me if I had sprayed something and I told him yes and why. A few minutes later he said to never do that again because it's offensive. The cabin smelling like pee is offensive. I made it smell better so the passengers wouldn't complain. I know I am not the only flight attendant who keeps air freshener in their bag.
On our way to canada tonight the first officer began to bug me again. I'm good about giving the flight deck crew the paper work for customs. However I was busy doing my FAA related duties and the fo just couldn't wait any longer for the paper work. So he tries to go thru my stuff and I told him not too. Just be patient and I will give it too you when i have a chance. Being the adult baby he is bugged me until he got his way. Yes this is the same fo who I made cupcakes for! Not to mention all day the crew never had a chance to get off the plane and eat. Before our flight to Canada he ran off the plane to get himself dinner, did he offer to get anyone else dinner? No because he always thinks about him and no one else. Again this guy is leaving our company to go fly else where. Which is probably a good thing because he slept or attempted to sleep with most of the flight attendants in base. And when there is only 43 flight attendants in base, word gets around fast. So good for him for running away!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Something smells
And it's not the lav! It's a smell of burning rubber. I was working in the back galley and it happened on the ground (thank god) in Sarasota FL right before boarding to go back to Washington DC. Clearly it's not a normal smell so I informed the other flight attendant, who agreed the smell wasn't normal. We informed the captain who wanted to get it checked out right away. 5 hours later the flight cancels and the company sent our own mechanics down on another flight since the contract mechanic couldn't find where the smell was coming from. After wasting away on a airplane for 5 hours and being hassled by the ground crew we were all tired. A well deserved cold brew by the pool was a must! I am so thankful of this wonderful crew. I always wonder who I will be working with when I pick up trips out of base. Oh yeah I forgot to mention this entire four day trip was open time (flying on my days off). As all airlines we have a few bad apples and no one wants to fly with them. But this crew is awesome! So this morning we repositioned the plane back to DC (revenue flight with no passengers-"repo"). Repo flights are always fun, it's nice to see the pilots fly the plane and we get to relax or sleep in my case. We lost a bunch of flying because of this but this is all extra flying for me so I don't mind!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Grow up
Grow up!!
I never liked this gate agent from the moment I met her but since she works in my home base I deal with it and only talk to her when I have too. Until last Monday, she was working my flight and everything was going smoothy. One of the last passengers to board came on with a picture frame in a box. The box was too wide for the overhead bin and since he was in the bulkhead, I needed to find a place for it. He told me his mother had passed away and this picture was very important. Say no more, I completely understand. There was another agent in the jet bridge checking bigger bags since we had no more space in the overhead. I asked him to gate check this item so the passenger could have it back and not have to go to baggage claim. The agent in the jet bridge was new and so he asked the agent boarding the flight at the gate if he could do that. She said no we can't but clearly on the valet tag it says oversized pictures/frames. However she still said no, which wasn't nice. I ended up moving the passenger so the frame could fit underneath the seat in front of him. I had to the agent in the jet bridge that we can gate check frames. After that we closed the door and left.
Yesterday I got a phone call from my base manager. She said she had gotten a complaint from a gate agent about how unprofessional I was. Her letter said I had called her a bitch in front of passengers and stowed the picture frame in the bathroom. First of all, how does she know what I said she was at the gate the entire time and never came down to the plane. She turned me in base on what the other agent that was in the jet bridge had told her. I am not sure why this guy would twist the story around but he is a new agent and with this attitude he won't last long. So now the station manager and my supervisor think the agent and I should have a meeting to work our feelings out. Here's the deal, I don't like this agent and I never will. But I will work with her as I am suppose to do. She is a big mouth tattle tale as far as I am concerned. If she wanted the truth she should have come to me and ask me if this was true. Grow up, if you have a problem with someone work it out with that person, don't be a tattle tale! I have to remind myself sometimes that I am not in grade school anymore, even though it feels like it!
I never liked this gate agent from the moment I met her but since she works in my home base I deal with it and only talk to her when I have too. Until last Monday, she was working my flight and everything was going smoothy. One of the last passengers to board came on with a picture frame in a box. The box was too wide for the overhead bin and since he was in the bulkhead, I needed to find a place for it. He told me his mother had passed away and this picture was very important. Say no more, I completely understand. There was another agent in the jet bridge checking bigger bags since we had no more space in the overhead. I asked him to gate check this item so the passenger could have it back and not have to go to baggage claim. The agent in the jet bridge was new and so he asked the agent boarding the flight at the gate if he could do that. She said no we can't but clearly on the valet tag it says oversized pictures/frames. However she still said no, which wasn't nice. I ended up moving the passenger so the frame could fit underneath the seat in front of him. I had to the agent in the jet bridge that we can gate check frames. After that we closed the door and left.
Yesterday I got a phone call from my base manager. She said she had gotten a complaint from a gate agent about how unprofessional I was. Her letter said I had called her a bitch in front of passengers and stowed the picture frame in the bathroom. First of all, how does she know what I said she was at the gate the entire time and never came down to the plane. She turned me in base on what the other agent that was in the jet bridge had told her. I am not sure why this guy would twist the story around but he is a new agent and with this attitude he won't last long. So now the station manager and my supervisor think the agent and I should have a meeting to work our feelings out. Here's the deal, I don't like this agent and I never will. But I will work with her as I am suppose to do. She is a big mouth tattle tale as far as I am concerned. If she wanted the truth she should have come to me and ask me if this was true. Grow up, if you have a problem with someone work it out with that person, don't be a tattle tale! I have to remind myself sometimes that I am not in grade school anymore, even though it feels like it!
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