Sisters

I just saw the weather forecast……not too bad for us here in Wisconsin but looks like the Northeastern part of the U.S. is going to get blasted with a huge snowstorm. “Historic snowfall”, “life-threatening” and “dangerous” are terms the National Weather Service and other officials are using. Sounds like it is going to be very nasty.

Most of you know I was a flight attendant for 20 some years, retiring a few years ago.  It was not a career I aspired to, but thanks to one of my sisters, I sort of fell into it. I enjoyed most of the people I met, loved some of the places I was able to travel to, particularly In Europe and I was glad that my family was able to use the travel benefits that went along with the job.

The week following 911 was not a favorite in my life as I was stuck in Japan for 6 days at a time when all I really wanted was to be home with my family. I remember finally getting home and my husband saying to me “ I’m just going to tell you I erased all the messages on the answering machine because a lot of the people who called were crying and I didn’t want you to hear it.” I had the very same trip the following week. I went because I knew if I didn’t go, I would never be able to fly again. I also worked a trip to Japan on a 747 with 400 passengers on board that developed a major mechanical problem over the Bering Sea. We limped back to Anchorage for an emergency landing and just prior to yelling “brace for impact”, I am not embarrassed to admit, I thought I might not survive and said a quick “please, God.”

Those were difficult things to deal with. As a flight attendant, you are trained to react appropriately in emergency situations and I think I did ok.

 Emergency situations were one thing and certainly not fun to go through but what really drove me crazy was when people complained about a flight being delayed or cancelled because of the weather. I used to want to say “who in their right mind would want to fly in this weather?”  (Ranks right up there with “why would you want to take a ride on a broken airplane, especially if the pilots don’t want to fly it?!?!”)

So as the bad weather moves in, I sympathize with the airline personnel who will have to bite their tongues and deal nicely with folks who sometimes don’t have the sense to know when someone is looking out for them. I am so glad I’m no longer one of them…k

February 8, 2015