I backed up two 3 day trips together, and the first 3 day was a rough one so I was realllllly looking forward to the next one where I got to work with the fabulous Hannah. Hannah & I met in training & became buddies during the 7 weeks it takes to beat flight attending into our heads.
Hannah & me at training
Hannah is awesome - she is soft spoken, so sweet she will give you a cavity, sees the best in every situation, is passionate about photography & dance, great at telling a story and has a large amount of common sense (which I value in friends...especially the ones I work with). Not only is she awesome, but she has the world's nicest family & boyfriend (Nick) who all took me under their wing when I couldn't be home with my own (family that is...boyfriend...meh....) during the 7 weeks in Atlanta. In a nutshell, she is just one of those people that is easy to be around & you instantly just really like.
Anyways, we started off with a slumber party at her & Megan's apartment the night before our trip; that way we could catch the crew runner together. We were about to call it a night, when Hannah's phone rings & scheduling lets her know her report & terminal were changed. So I looked my schedule up & would you believe mine was changed as well. Ummm....crap. Long story short, it was NOT a good change so we spent 1 hour and 45 minutes on the phone with scheduling trying to come up with a compromise. Thanks to our tag team phone efforts, help from some coworkers, a little bit of stubborness, & knowing our work rules we managed to get things fixed a bit. That 3 hours of sleep we fought for were much needed. If you have never had to set your alarm for 4AM consider yourself lucky (or in my case, 4AM or earlier for about 6 days in a row now).
We should have known with the way this trip started that it was going to be a doozy. No, seriously. I mean, we all joke that I have REALLY bad flight attendant luck, but even I was shocked by the sequence of bad luck on this trip. First, our deadhead was delayed from 8:10AM to 1:30PM (of course, after we had already arrived at LGA). Cue the schedule change, where they took away our glorious, amazing trip with 18 hours in PDX (that got done at 2PM) and 15 hours in STL. Day #1 we were now just double deadheading (for those of you who don't know airline lingo, a "deadhead" is when a crew member is riding on the plane as a passenger on company business) to St. Louis to only have 11 hours on the ground. Day #2 we were scheduled to work 3 flights, with 23 hours in ATL (ask anyone, I think Atlanta is ratchet). Day #2 our Flight Leader managed to prove he is cray cray (I would go into detail, but there was more than 1 report I had to fill out about him so I should probably keep the details between me, the crew & the passenger he went postal on) on more than one occasion. Oh, and on 1 flight alone we had 4 Unaccompanied Minors, 7 wheelchairs & 3 blind passengers (this is pretty much unheard of & creates ALOT of extra work...we never mind it, but it does add to the workload) . Oh and don't forget the 2 hour delay in Austin yesterday too; just for fun. Now I sit here in my hotel in Atlanta glaring at the rain because it messed up my plans to sit poolside all day. I can't even blame Hannah for turning to me yesterday and saying "you know I love you, but I am NEVER flying with you & your bad luck again". She will be back...she can't quit me. ;)
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My point is, after the insanity of the past few days (trust me when I say I gave you the BRIEF summary of the drama) I would have been close to grabbing some beers and jumping down a slide if it weren't for the fact that having a good friend in the crew kept me sane. We were tired & stressed, but at least we had each other! Working the cart, sitting on the same jumpseat, greeting at the door...we did it all together (and made for a wonderful team with stellar communication & efficiency, which is every FA's dream) & had more fun than any normal people should while handing out pretzels to 200 passengers. We got to walk around St Louis together & enjoyed dinner while laughing about stuff. Passengers were having a good time on our flights because WE were having a good time together. Even when something bad came up, we had each other to vent to about it so we could get over it quickly & move on back to smiling and fun. When we FINALLY got to Atlanta (after hands down the worst experience I have ever had with a coworker on a plane), Nick (Hannah's boyfriend) was there to take not only her, but me (and Jenny, the other FA that we befriended in our crew) to get some food at 10PM because we were starving. Only a pretty amazing friend invites you to tag along with her & her boyfriend after spending 13 hours with you on a plane (and not to mention she hadn't seen Nick in over a week). Flight Attendant bonds run deep because for days/weeks at a time, all we really have is each other while we are away from family & friends.
Some of my fave/most entertaining moments from the past 2 days:
- Watching the little boy make his toy plane take off in conjunction with our take off.
- Hannah's excitement after someone told her she looked like a Disney princess.
- Helping a blind man up the jet bridge, and as I was telling him to watch his step I managed to trip on a wheelchair & wipe out.
- The little girl who wanted to be best friends & asked me when she came back if I would be her FA again.
- The little chubby boy who gave Hannah & I hugs upon deplaning.
- The creepy Asian guy wouldn't stop staring at Jenny while he smiled at her and played with his puffy hair during lunch.
- Hannah: "yes, I did just order a wine & now I am coloring."
- Being told by more than one passenger that Hannah, Jenny & I were the best crew they have ever had.
- Teaching passengers how to play "Set" while sitting at the gate during out delay.
- * Telling a UM that he needed to stay seated during the deplaning process until one of us came to grab him because I hated running & if he made me do it in heels I was really going to be put out.
It's still raining here in Atlanta, where I sit until my flight at 7:30PM. Like a good friend, Hannah invited me to the park to hang with Nick, her Dad & her puppy but she deserves some time to herself. Plus I am pretty sure I deserve a nap.
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