Thoughts From 35,000 ft: Bombs and Plane Crashes

When I first started this job the first question I would be asked about my job would always be, "Is it so much fun?" but the second question was almost always "Aren't you scared?".  No, is my standard response because to be honest I never really have been.  They say you are more likely to die crossing the street than on a plane.  But, now I know why people ask...because of today's incident in Brussels, because of 9/11, and because terrorism is rampant all over the world and it's proven that using planes to create mass panic works.

Sure I have thought about how I could die on a plane, I know that given 2 minutes there are a handful of people I would text, but I don't think about it every time I step onto an aircraft.   I don't know if I could do my job if every time I got on a plane I considered what I would say in a goodbye text to my parents, my brother, my best friends, and the select other few people who fall in the "given the opportunity I need to say goodbye" list.  I have never been good at saying goodbye to begin with so if I was starting every day contemplating what I would say, I would be a wreck the entire day!

Every human being, including you, is born with the potential to be and do more than anybody in this world. You were born to have an impact on somebody, just like every single breathing soul on this earth.

—  James & Allie

I do consider terrorist attacks all the time though.  But it seems like fluke plane crashes are more common than a hijacked aircraft or planted bomb these days.  I am trained to notice every person who walks on board my flight.  Determine who could help in an emergency, who might need extra help in a situation, and notice any suspicious characters.  I have seen every plane crash, I remember 9/11, I have read all those articles, and watched all the movies, not to mention heard all the stories of incidents from people I have worked with.  I think this is why I think about it so much.  It is a constant topic of conversation.  I know that the aviation industry is one of the largest targets for terrorist organizations so I have to consider it with all the violence our world is enduring at the hands of terrorists.  

This morning when I so happened to be awake at 3 am when news of the Brussels attack hit media, my first thought was holy shit it's happening again.  I then thought about everyone I know who works our international flights and accounted for where they might be to rule out Brussels.  I then started reading all the articles and watching the videos.  I myself was supposed to be walking out the door to go meet a friend in Florida but I was glued to my couch.  I had woken up 30 minutes earlier and decided not to go then heard of what had happened.  I realized all I could do was write.  I sit here writing this and watching planes land and my heart gets a certain tug at every descending plane.

So far 21 people have been killed in Brussels, 2,977 people died on 9/11,  224 people died on the Russian charter flight back in October.  These are just 3 incidents, but when you look at a timeline of events, it has been going on since 1933 and several plots have been foiled, such as the infamous "shoe bomber".  While recently in NYC I went to the 9/11 memorial, being a flight attendant I knew it would touch me a little differently than if I hadn't chosen this career.  I did't know that the first names I would come across would be cabin crew, I didn't expect it to move me to tears, and I didn't expect to just want to sit there and soak it all in.  I stood there starting at the names of the Flight 11 cabin crew thinking I hope I never know anyone who dies like this.  Writing this breaks my heart all over again because some my favorite people in the whole world now are cabin crew like me.  You never think it will be you or anyone you know till it is.

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world"

-Dead Poets Society

I just hate that I live in a world filled with so much hate and violence.  I hate that it seems like nothing is being done to make it stop.  I hate that it could be me or someone I know who ends up in an airport or on a plane that is used as a weapon of mass destruction.  What I don't hate is my job.  I refuse to let some horrible, awful person make me feel scared when I haven't before.  I won't stop getting up, putting on my wings, and welcoming people aboard my flights.  I guess the point is that this world we live in is messy and violent and at times it's heartbreaking.  We have a choice though, to be scared and let that fear consume us or we can stand together affected by what happened but determined to effect change.  We have to make this world a safer place, we have to stand up, we have to fight.  As a flight attendant I bow my head to all those people who lost their lives, to the people who lost someone, and to all of those who are scared.  My heart is with Brussels but my mind is desperately trying to find a way to change the world.

xxx
your favorite flight attendant
B

Thoughts from 35,000: Chapter 1

It occurred to me that I have a kind of special opportunity, being a flight attendant I encounter all these crazy things all day long.  I have hundreds of ridiculous thoughts and stories just from one day on a plane, so why not share all the crazy with you all?  This is the first post in a series that I will post weekly!  Welcome to my world!

As I write this I am 3 hours into a 4-½ hour flight from Charlotte to Phoenix.  The truth is, this is a routine flight for me; I have been on this flight more times than I can count and it is by no means the longest flight I have been on.  This isn’t about the length of the flights though this is about the things that cross my mind while on a plane.  My time is mostly spent working and that is when the most ridiculous of thoughts seem to pop into my head because I swear people turn into their alter egos on airplanes.  Today though I am not working I am merely a passenger.

"Travel is not reward for working, it’s education for living."

I have also probably written my most emotional text messages or blog posts (some never sent or posted) while flying.  This is probably because it is true what they say, “airports and airplanes see the most sincere tears, hellos, goodbyes, and kisses”.  This makes anyone with a heart feel something, and while I have a black heart, I do still catch the feelings occasionally.   When this happens I take out my cell phone and I type.  Once again the writer in me wins.  A few of you reading this have been on the receiving end of one of these messages, it probably started with “so I was flying” or “nothing like a plane ride…” I then proceeded to be emotionally slutty, as Carrie Bradshaw would put it!  Or I just got weird on you out of nowhere and eventually admit that I am either on a plane or smack in the middle of a 4-day trip. 

Here’s the thing, planes bring out the best and worst in people.  I have watched doctors, nurses and EMTs jump to their feet and help me in a medical emergency, I have watched people cry in the window seat hoping no one can see them, I have watched military men and women come on board and tell me they don’t know when they will be back.  Then there are the people yelling at you because their bag won’t fit in an overhead, yelling because you don’t have free snacks, threatening to get you fired because you don’t have a place to hang their parka on the way to Miami.  I can meet around 500 people in a day and all of them have a story.   These people that I meet and their stories are what lead to all my thoughts!

So the thoughts ensue: (these are typed how I would be thinking them to myself):

•           That couple in first class 1A and 1C is who I want to be with my future husband, how did they get here?  Were there fights? Did it take a few tries before the timing was right? Will I find my person?  I think I found my person.  Ok now I am crazy.  Geez they are great
•       Dear god, why on earth do you not have shoes on, no please don’t…really you are going into that filthy bathroom without shoes on! I am judging you so hard.
•       Passenger “where is the bar on this plane, like in the commercial with that hot blonde girl”.  Hmmm I have been wondering that same thing sir since I started working here.  Where is the bar and where are the showers and all those other things that hot blonde girl gets.
•       Same passenger from above “if you get bored miss you can come sit next to me and I’ll keep you company”.  Oh is that so, well unfortunately I would rather entertain myself by coloring, drinking water, eating snacks, or just downright being bored.
•       Passenger “are we going to __blank__” no mam we are going to Antarctica, hope you packed a coat
•       Why don’t people read real books anymore?  Maybe it makes them sick on planes, it makes me want die while flying personally.
•       Do people really think yelling “MISS” at me will make me want to get them that 5^th Jack and Coke?  Why is it always the people drinking Jack and Coke?
•       Is it bad that my unaccompanied minor and I are reading the same book?
•       If you cant lift your bag what makes you think I can? I am not Captain America despite popular belief.  I consider cardio walking up and down this aisle collecting your absurd amounts of trash.
•       How is so much trash accumulated on a plane?
•      Why did no one consult a flight attendant before they made this hunk of metal?
•       Do people really think the seatbelt sign is just on because the captain forgot to turn it off?
•          Is it bad that all I have eaten on this trip has originated from this airplane?
•       Why is your child climbing on the seats, don't you value his life?
•       How much longer?

Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.

—  Ibn Battuta 

Sometimes while flying I get to meet someone and really have a conversation with them, maybe just quick and meaningless but every once and awhile a customer will share a piece of themselves with you and today was a day I got a good story.  I am in uniform so it is safe to say the guy sitting next to me will want to chat, he asks if I am headed home or to work.  Home I say, just finished working.  I ask if he was in Charlotte for the Cardinals game (everyone on this plane was there for that game, the people in first class are currently all talking about it collectively).  He isn't, he is heading to phoenix for work a trip he makes quite often.  Towards the end of the flight we have both finished watching movies and I take out my computer to write and he takes out his to work.  He sees me typing this and asks if I am writing a book, no, I laugh, just a blog.  He asks for the link and I say sorry, I don't give it out to passengers but if you ever find it I hope you like it!  I find out he has pilot friends and has done incredible mission work.  We talk about my want to join the peace corp and his adopted daughter from Kurdistan.  These are the stories that make my job incredible.  And then just like that I hear "flight attendants prepare for landing".  Just like that it is all over with, I will never see these people again, these people with all their stories.   I grab my bags to head home I say it was a pleasure meeting you and I leave.  I will never see him again but he has undoubtedly reignited my fire to change the world in a way.  There is something kind of amazing about the fact that I will do this all over again tomorrow, 500 more people!

xxx

B