Well hellllloooo my dear readers! Sorry I've been away so long and not blogging for you all. As my favourite honourary flight attendant, Pam Ann would say, I've been busy busy busy sooooo busy! Christmas and New Year was mental with catching up with family and friends, and then I did two trips back to back in the first week of the year. Since then I have been to Dallas twice already, had a diversion and an extra night away from home and frankly I am still catching my breath! Catching my breath so much so in fact that I went over my legally allowed amount of hours I can work in a roster period and I was able to drop this week's trip to Dubai, so suddenly I have off nine glorious days! Can't tell you how much I need them - I am pooped. And I am so glad I have this time off to enjoy the beautiful Perth summer, watch endless hours of the Australian Open and do a little bit o' blogging!
So tonight on Facey I came across this amazing video that an awesome blogger/Facebook figure called Confessions of a Trolley Dolly posted (check them out at www.confessionsofatrolleydolly.com) and I simply MUST share it with you all as it just explains my own life as a long haul trolley dolly so bloody well, and also, well, it's just really really funny! So here it is...
Video credit: ThatYoungGal
Watching this video totally inspired me to blog about the questions I most commonly get asked during my work day - questions I am asked every single trip, usually by multiple passengers. A few of my readers have also asked me to write more flight attendant related posts, so voila! Here are the top ten questions I get asked...
“So, do you do this route often?”
My roster is like a lottery. I have
very little control over it. I could come to this city twice in a week or not
be here for another four months.
“Is there wifi on this plane?”
No.
This is almost always followed by a
blank look and a “But *insert competitor airline’s name here* does!”
Maybe you should’ve flown them
then.
“So where do they put you up?”
Stranger danger. I’m not going to
tell you, and if I do, I will be very, very vague, no matter how nice you seem.
Too many flight attendants have been stalked by creepy passengers.
“Do you just fly international or
do you do domestic routes as well?”
This one is extremely common.
Pretty sure when I am away for five days out of seven in the week doing this
trip we both find ourselves on right now, I wouldn’t have any time to also work
any domestic routes as well. A girl’s gotta have some RDO’s!
“Do you get free flights?”
People automatically assume we get
free flights. When you work at a bank do they give you free money? No. We get
discounted flights. Say it with me: DISCOUNTED. NOT FREE. There is a big
difference.
“Do you guys get to sleep on here?”
Yes. There are crew bunks on almost
all large aircrafts – or at least crew seats where a curtain can be drawn
across and the crew can hide from all you whinging passengers.
“How long do you get to stay here?
A week?”
Please. The golden era of flying is
over. No one gets a week anymore. We get anywhere between 24 and 72 hours in a
layover city. Usually closer to the 24 hours end. As I like to say, just enough
time to eat, sleep and shop.
“How do you open this toilet door?”
You push where it says push. No,
the cigarette ashtray doesn’t open the door. JUST READ WHAT IT SAYS RIGHT IN
FRONT OF YOUR FACE.
(Honestly, sometimes I think even
if we wrote these things in neon flashing lights people still wouldn’t read
them).
“Will I make my connection?”
I am not a wizard – I don’t know these
things. If we’re super delayed, and you went to school for even just a few
years, but were still dumb enough to book your connecting flight to be less
than 2 hours later than this one, then you should be able to work out that no,
you won’t make your connecting flight. But then you were dumb enough to leave
almost no time between your two flights, so you won’t want to work it out and
you’ll just ask every crew member you see the same question. Never fear though.
We do not just dump you at the airport and leave you there forever if you miss
your connection. We will put you on the next available flight. And yes, we do
understand that flying is stressful, whether you are a seasoned flyer or a
first or second timer. Making your connection is stressful. You don’t know
where you’re going. You're in a hurry. You have a meeting/tour/funeral/wedding to get to. The weather has been a bitch today and delayed you right from the word go. You’re new to this. You feel out of your depth. We do
understand. Still doesn’t mean I can tell you for certain whether you're going to make your connecting flight or not.
And finally the worst question of
them all, the one that really grinds my (landing) gears is this…
*On arrival in Los Angeles from
Sydney (a fourteen hour flight and sixteen hour total duty for me and my crew)*
“So, do you guys head straight back
to Australia now?”
Take a second to look at the crew
member you’re asking this to. Notice he or she looks like they’ve been hit by a
bus. Their blazer or scarf may be a bit skewiff. They’re probably still wearing
their cabin shoes because their feet hurt so much that they can’t bear to put their
high heels back on for the walk through the terminal. Her makeup is at least
50% rubbed off her face. He has a five o'clock shadow. Her hair is a bit fly away. The whites of his or her
eyes are now a bit pink. He or she has just handed out at least 300 hot meals,
twice, tried to stay awake for HOURS in the galley while the rest of you were
all sleeping out in the cabin as we flew across the ocean, has probably eaten
all his or her meals today standing up and has been awake and in uncomfortable
panty hose or a neck tie for almost an entire 24 hours now.
After you’ve looked at them and
noticed all these things for surprisingly the first time, think now if in your
job you would ever work for 32 hours straight.
No. We do not ‘turn around and go
back now’. We go to a hotel and have a rest you silly people!
That's all for today diary readers! I will be back with more posts soon, I promise.
In the meantime I don't think I've ever told you all that you can follow me on Twitter @Brindabella24 and on Instagram @brindabella24 !
Jorgs
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