8.30.2010

A day in the life of a Flight Attendant, Part I

I hope Pea never curses out a plane full of passengers, grabs a couple of beers and pulls an emergency slide to escape a stressful job.

Regardless of whether you think Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater is a hero or a criminal, I think we can all agree that he holds held one of the hardest customer service jobs out there.  Flight attendants have to put up with cramped quarters, stale air, crying babies and customers who board the plane already jonesin' for their next cigarette even though they are hours from landing.

All this, and the incredible burden of keeping 50-250 people safe flight after flight.

After I heard about Steven's Billy the Kid'esque escape from the fuzz, I wanted to know exactly what it is that weighs on the mind of a flight attendant.  I also wondered whether some well known flight-related folklore is fact or fiction. So I contacted a veteran flight attendant and asked some of my questions.  Here's what I got.

Since my contact isn't authorized to talk to "the media", we'll call her Anna for the sake of anonymity.  Anne has worked for regional and national carriers and loves the work she does, despite much of the nonsense she has to put up with.

Ricochay (R): Do you ever work a flight where there are no rude passengers?
Anne (A): I would have to say that the majority of flights have rude flyers.  Now, there's a range of rudeness... the extreme rudeness — such as yelling and calling you names — that's about 1% of passengers overall.  But these are the same people who just don't have manners generally, or people who don't know proper behaviour.  Thankfully, these people aren't often onboard, you'll see them maybe once every one to two months.

R: What's the rudest thing a customer has ever said to you?
A: I wish I remembered the exact situation that lead to this, but I think the rudest thing that someone has said to me, was that I was stupid.  I vaguely remember the gentlemen arguing with me about something and I tried to stay very calm and help him out.  I obviously didn't give him the answer he was wanting and he continued to call me stupid.  In a very sarcastic tone, I replied "Thank You" and walked away.

R: The Jet Blue incident seems to have started because a passenger was ignoring one of the in-flight safety rules.  What is the one safety rule that gets ignored most often?
A: Hands down, the one safety rule most people ignore relates to the seatbelt sign.  There's a seatbelt sign for a reason... it's not just a pretty light for people to look at, and the pilots aren't in the flight deck switching the sign on and off for fun!

Whenever the light goes on, it's for a reason.  You know the in-flight scene in LOST, where the plane hits turbulence and some passengers hit the roof of the plane?  That can really happen!  But people don't seem to care about the risks involved with standing, walking around or even just sitting without your seatbelt fastened.  It's not like some passengers suggest.  I don't enjoy walking up and down the aisle looking to see if everyone has their belt on.  It's for everyone's safety.

Another thing people do is unfasten their seat belts right upon landing.  Would you unfasten your seatbelt when you are two blocks from home?  NO!  There's always a risk of a sudden stop or a bump... you never know.  And trust me when I say that a sudden stop in an enormous aircraft is going to send you flying, if you'll pardon the pun.

R: You mentioned the in-flight scene from LOST.  Have you ever hit really bad turbulence when you weren't expecting it?  
A: Most of the time, the pilots will be able to anticipate turbulence.  But sometimes they can't.  I was on the bar trolley once when we all of a sudden hit a patch of turbulence.   I was holding a cup full of coffee and I actually saw all the coffee leave the cup, float in the air at my eye level and fall back down on my hand.  Not good.  There's always a chance of that happening even if the seatbelt sign is not on.

R: So with all these people ignoring flight rules, have you ever come close to losing it like the Jet Blue dude did?
A: I've never come close to losing it like the Jet Blue flight attendant... but I have to be honest, sometimes people treat you so badly and drive you crazy that you feel like that could be the only way out!  There are definitely days where I feel like screaming "I'm not going to be treated this way!"

R: Do you ever have sympathy for the folks on 'the other side?'  The passengers  I mean, not those who have passed before us.
A: Look, if I'm having a bad day, I don't run about taking my frustrations out on everyone around me!  But every day we are blamed and treated poorly for something that's not even our own fault.

If you sit in traffic on the way to the airport, then stress out as you worry about making it through security, only to have bad weather either in your departure or arrival city delay your flight — that's not my fault.  Blame city planners and, I suppose, God for your day.  Not me!

But the reality is that we are the face of our airline.  As a flight attendant, you are usually the last person a passenger comes in contact with, and you have the longest contact with them.  So if they have had a bad experience with the airline or even simply a bad day, we often get the brunt of it.  I suppose I get that.  But I don't like people treating me rudely as a result.  We still need civility as a society, don't we?

R: What's the weirdest customer request you've ever had?
A: A passenger calls me over and asks me if I would mind if they take their pants off.  Uh, what?  What the hell does that mean?  I didn't know what to say.  I tried to answer the question, not really understanding why I would be asked such a rude question.  Before I could get an answer out, the passenger interrupted me and let me know that he was trying to make a point because another passenger had no shoes on and had her feet propped up.  I had never had such a bizarre complaint before.

_______________________________________________

Coming soon, part 2 of my interview with Anne.  In the second installment, Anne tells us whether the Mile High Club really exists, what really happens if you use your phone on a flight, and what destination entails the rowdiest passengers!

I may not know what I want my Pea to become, but I hope she never curses out a plane full of passengers, grabs a couple of beers and pulls an emergency slide to escape a stressful job.  

8.26.2010

Ridding myself of my karaoke demons!

I hope Pea doesn't let the tone deaf ruin a potentially good time.

In Pea's room, right beside the chair that the Pod and I sit on to put her to sleep, sits a dry-erase board.  Affixed to said board are several pictures of people that are dear to Pea, the Pod and myself.

One of these photos is a picture of the Pod and I, partaking in karaoke.  It's one of my favourite pictures of us, hence its appearance on the Pea wall of fame. It reminds me of a different time in our lives, when we were young and free to stay out late drinking and singing the night away.

Ironically, this girl can sing!
She actually sings the anthem
at Blue Jays games.  Regularly.
(And no, this is not the photo
of the Pod and I.)
At the same time, I loathe the photo, for it is a constant reminder of my hypocrisy.

You see, I hate karaoke.

Why would anyone hate karaoke, you ask, perplexed? Let me explain.

Not many people know this, but karaoke was invented as a torture technique during the Japan/China War of 1767.  Japanese soldiers would force chinese POW's to sing popular songs of the day, to 1) humiliate their foe and amuse themselves at their expense, and 2) determine who would be killed in a daily culling.  The soldiers that were released after the war continued the practice as a way of honouring their fallen comrades.

So, I can't enjoy anything with such a horrible tradition.

All right, I made that up.  The Japanese are not evil like that.  Hell, there wasn't even a war between the two countries in 1767.  At least not as far as I know.  I apologize for misleading you.

The actual truth is that I once saw a 55-year old man sing Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" in a hotel restaurant/karaoke bar.  This guy's rendition came complete with horrifying gyrations every time he sang the chorus, and a 65-year old back-up dancer rubbing herself against him for the duration of the song.  It was like interpretive dance set to a horror movie soundtrack.

All right, that's not really why I hate karaoke (but sadly, it is true).

The truth is I can't sing to save my life.  That is literal people.  If Justin Bieber were to approach me right now, and threaten to cute me to death if I didn't sing "Baby" to his liking... well, I don't even want to think of a world where Justin Bieber is incarcerated.

More to the point, most people can't sing to save their lives.  But, with enough alcohol in our systems, we can convince ourselves that we can, in fact, sing effectively and to the pleasure of others.

Yet, despite my highly publicized hatred of karaoke, I have been dragged on at least three occasions to sing for others, and plied with alcohol until I too lost my senses and picked-up the microphone.

Now, I'm not an animal.  Once in the moment, I get into things.  But God help me, I don't want to.

As I was putting Pea to bed recently, I found myself mulling over the complex emotions enshrined in that photo of the Pod and I.  And it occurred to me, that I have to think of Pea now.  Perhaps my hatred of karaoke is based on meaningless nonsense.

I want Pea to feel comfortable expressing herself through song.  Or, hopefully, singing beautifully for others!  Growing up, I wouldn't stand for my sister singing in the car.  Looking back, who knows if I was crushing a young dream of stardom.

So I am abandoning my inhibitions and letting the world know that I am hereby renouncing my hatred of karaoke in all of its forms.  I'm now up for a song as sung by someone other than the original singer, or a reasonable cover version.  Whether you can sing or not, your tune is ok by me.

Ok, let's salvage this angry diatribe with a little audience participation.  Favourite karaoke songs — what's yours, and why?  No prizes. Do it, just because.

My favourite is Pete Yorn's Life on a Chain, because it's the only song to which I know all the words from start to finish... and it's an awesome song.

Now, you!

I may not know what I want Pea to become, but I hope she doesn't let the tone deaf ruin a potentially good time.




8.23.2010

Tweets from God

I hope Pea doesn't let trademarks stand in the way of her creativity and ability to deliver an effective message.

I recently found something so profound and awe-inspiring sitting on my front porch that I instantly knew it was what I had been waiting for to jump-start what.will.you.be,Pea.  Not that I needed something to jump-start this blog, really... just time. And I made the time for this one.

"Tweets from God."

Do I have your attention yet? Because Grace Community Church certainly had mine with a headline like that.


"Tweets from God" is a 12-page brochure, produced by the aforementioned Grace Community Church, that asks the question — what would God tweet, were he in fact, able to tweet.

A big hypothetical, because as we all know, Heaven is still operating on a dial-up connection, making tweeting, Facebooking and any other kind of social media use an absolute nightmare.

I digress.

So, lest I keep you in too much suspense, here are some of things the Lord Almighty has on his mind these days:
  • Hey, me again. Just wanted you to know that I thought you handled that situation pretty well today. You're getting better...
  • Because I made you, I have had a special interest in you since before you were born.
  • The reason why my basic opinion of you never changes is because you are my kid.
  • You were not an accident, and neither are your circumstances.
  • Terrorism, climate change, war, you name it. I have everything under control.
Standard stuff, really. No surprises.

All right, so on a few different levels I admire this brochure to no end. For one, they've flaunted and bastardized the Twitter trademark like I've never seen anything abused in my life. As a communications professional, that's saying something! They've used the Twitter font, colour palette, design and logo to suit their needs with an obvious and clearly deliberate disregard for the law. The number of times I have wanted to do just that in my professional life is uncountable, so that fact alone gets Grace kudos from this guy.

Then, there's the fact that the brochure did exactly what it was supposed to do — get me to read it. I may not agree with everything in the document, but I have never — and I repeat, never — picked up a religious pamphlet from my front porch, thrown it in my knapsack, and brought it to work so I could blog about it later. Well done Grace. I can learn a thing or two from you about engagement.

And of course, one cannot overlook the intended target audience and messaging that Grace is attempting to put out there. Twitter will of course appeal to the youth demographic; those who have likely little to no interest in any type of organized religion because of the sex scandals and/or lack of appeal to their interests.

So, in the end, Grace appears to have hit a home run.

But wait. Let's break down what God is actually tweeting about. "You're not alone." "I know how much potential you have." "I made you on purpose." This seems a little repetitive, doesn't it? We've heard all this before. It may not have been spelt out in 140 character increments, but the Chapters and Verses concept is really just one tweet at a time.

I refuse to believe that after all these years of watching us mess up his creation, God doesn't have anything new to tell us. I mean, c'mon God, I get really pissed when people make edits to my writing at work, and that has no significance whatsoever. Am I to believe that your tune hasn't changed at all after two World Wars? Terrorism aimed at those who believe what you have to say? Men who ruin the lives of children whilst espousing your core beliefs?

I think it would have been better had he given us an update on what he's really thinking. Maybe something like...
  • @Adolf666 You're an asshole and for the record, you were an accident. I hope you are enjoying the incessant sodomy. #Fail.
  • @VaticanCityPlayers If I didn't want #homosexuals to marry, I would have made them #priests.
  • Maybe I should have given the Kid clearer instructions about when he'd be returning. My bad.
  • The crying statue of Madonna in remote Mexico? Not my doing. The creepy skeleton-like @Madonna in London? Yeah, that was me... and you're welcome.
  • @MayanCalandarForever I do have a lengthy vacation planned in #2012, but I assure you @GodsRightHandMan is perfectly capable of keeping shit together while I'm away.
  • Even I couldn't have predicted that @Lebron and @ChrisBosh would join the #Heat. #Didntseethatcoming.
  • #SexandtheCity3 is going to revolutionize film making. Trust me.
I may not know what I want Pea to become, but I hope she doesn't let trademarks stand in the way of her creativity and ability to deliver an effective message.