From My Perspective…

Anyone close to me this past week or two knows that I have had a rough time lately.  I have not been myself, and my mood has been erratic at best.  I had a moment yesterday where I realized I had gone as low as I was going to allow myself to go.  It’s all up from here, because I refuse to wallow any longer.

I had some people close to me make some comments to me that really hurt.  They were off-handed and quite frankly, cruel.  I don’t believe anyone set out to cause me so much pain, and I do believe that some comments are made out of lack-of-understanding and jealousy.  I believe in forgiveness.  I will forgive the pain caused, and hopefully will eventually forget the hurt.  I don’t want to forget what happened, because I will always use this week to remind myself that I can choose to let things go, and that I can choose how someone affects me.

A little background:  I am a Flight Attendant.  I absolutely love my job.  I enjoy almost every aspect of my day when I am working.  I am GOOD at my job, and am lucky enough to make money doing something that I adore.  I am also passionate about the aviation industry as a whole.  I am totally devoted to my company, and to upholding the high standards of conduct associated with working there.  I am proud to be where I am, and to be an example of happiness to my children.

The comments made to me involved the lack of skill, the lack of intelligence, and the lack of importance reflected in a Flight Attendant’s job.  It hurt.  Mainly because I am SO proud of who and what I am.  Partly because people close to me should KNOW.  Partly because I let myself believe them, and allowed myself to assume if those closest to me believe that, then probably most people do as well.  I will admit that I care what people think of me.  I shouldn’t, and I know that, but I DO.  I spent the week believing everyone around me figured I was stupid, that my job was for idiots and that I wasn’t worth much for choosing this life.  I spiraled down into what a horrible wife and mother I am for loving something that takes me away.  I allowed myself to believe the worst about myself – I allowed myself to doubt who I am.

Thankfully, I have made the decision that these people are either jealous, misinformed – or both.  I will advocate for better understanding of what I do, and I won’t allow others to dictate how I feel about myself.  A new friend said to me “It’s none of my business what other people think of me”  I love it.  It’s true.

People don’t always understand what the true role of a Flight Attendant is.  We are Cabin Safety Professionals.  Break that down:  Cabin – that’s where you sit when you are in a plane (unless you are the operating pilots)  Safety – not a hard thing to understand.  As with all types of travel, there are inherent dangers to air travel.  We are there to maintain YOUR safety.  Professionals:  again, not hard to figure out…  I would hope that all Flight Attendants act with a level of respect and professionalism.  All we ask in return is respect back.

When I did my initial training, it was almost 4 weeks long.  It was 5-6 days/week, 8-9 hours/day.  So let’s say approximately 130hours of training.  Out of that, 4 (yes, FOUR!!) of those hours involved learning about performing the day-to-day services we provide.  Pouring coffee, handing out cookies…  yes… there is a “proper” way to do that…  but it in the grand scheme of what I am trained on, it is a SMALL bit.  The rest??  How to keep our guests SAFE.  How to keep the cabin SAFE.  How to keep our aircraft SAFE.  How to keep ourselves SAFE.  We learned FireFighting, First Aid, Self-Defense, Emergency and Evacuation Procedures.  We retrain every year so that we are always at our best.

The next time you board an aircraft – take a good look at your Flight Attendants (don’t be creepy about it tho – we know how to restrain you)  Think about this – your Flight Attendant most likely has someone at home, waiting for her.  She may have children who are missing her.  She chooses a job that takes her away from everything that is important to her, because keeping you safe is also important to her.  She will be the one to maintain control in the event of an emergency.  She will be the one to come to your aid in a medical situation.  She may have a university degree.  She is someone’s child, sibling, parent, spouse.  She may save your life.  So look her in the eye, and show her respect.  She’ll ‘reward’ you with a cup of coffee and a cookie, and in the case of this Flight Attendant – a huge smile.

**I use the female pronouns for ease of writing.  I work alongside some amazing men as well.**