Once Upon a Time...

Taxiing down the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally took off.

A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?"

"The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," explained the flight attendant, "and it took us a while to find a new pilot."

I was a flight attendant.

Everyone is always surprised by this and they automatically think I was living a life of luxury and jet-setting across the globe. However, this is only partly true. But mostly not true at all!!

I had just graduated from college and was the new owner of a political science degree. Not very useful when you don't want to actually work in politics or go to law school. I was passing time "looking" for a job and working as a server at a local cafe. Then the cafe closed and I was jobless. My mom suggested that I apply with the airlines and to be honest, I thought that sounded ridiculous and horrible. But I did it anyway and within a month I was whisked off to the Hampton Inn and Suites by the Atlanta airport to begin my month long training.

I met lots of fun people in training (including my Swee"tea") and it was a great experience. I was so stressed out the whole time though because after graduation, people like me would be responsible for assisting passengers in the case of an emergency!

Learning how to survive a water landing

Operating a DC-10 door

Me with my brother and mom on graduation day.

I had just passed my IOE (Initial Operating Experience) and was officially a Flight Attendant!
In Germany with my IOE Supervisor, Ryan

Outside a restaurant in Mainz, Germany

Cyprus

The best hotel in the WORLD - Kuwait, The Movenpick

The view of the Mediterranean from my hotel room in Cyprus

Burgstadt, Germany

Baku, Azerbaijan - Fountain Square

Layover in London

My airline stopped using Germany as a hub and a lot of my time was spent in Shannon, Ireland

Kuwait

At a castle in Kastellaun

I got to visit a lot of other places as well, but can't seem to find the pictures! The job was fun while it lasted, but I was away from home at least 21 days of the month and I was once held out for 43 days!

The best part?
Flying free on Spirit and Airtran anywhere in the country.
Meeting my boyfriend.
Bypassing the long security lines at airport and flashing the badge...ha!
Free hotels and food.
Getting to travel to places I would never ever in a million years venture to (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan...)

The worst part?
Lost luggage.
A bad crew.
Working in the galley.
The smell of the bathrooms after 9 hours in flight.
Burning your fingers while passing out hot meals.
Getting stuck with R1 - the door where you have to cater to the flight crew.
Being away from friends and family for weeks at a time.
Irish breakfasts - blood sausage anyone?
HOT HOT HOT summers in Kuwait, Dubai and Quatar.
Worrying the plane was falling apart while in flight (this happened to me once).
Being delayed because of "mechanical failures" and still having to work a 20+ hour day.

True story:

I was working the L4 door (the very back) of a DC-10 aircraft. This plane has 8 emergency doors and holds over 350 passengers. Every flight was always booked to capacity because we were flying military to and from the war zone. In preparation for takeoff, I was checking my door to make sure it was locked and armed. But my handle wasn't functioning properly. Keep in mind that all the passengers are boarded and we kept a mechanic on every flight (doesn't bode well for the condition of our planes). I called the Lead F/A who sent the mechanic over. He was on the ground trying to get the door to close all the way, but to no avail. He's at it for at least a half hour. Then he gets the door to close finally, and pulls out DUCT TAPE. What??!? Yes, he taped the door to the floor and we proceeded to take off. Needless to say, the passengers near me were beyond freaked and I was too. So it wasn't long after that when I decided that flight attending wasn't for me!

---------------------

It was fun to share a little bit of my past with you and to revisit some of my pictures too!

Also, I have everything ready to be sent to my giveaway winners (sorry for the delay) and a few of the lovely ladies that have signed up for my snail mail idea! I was so excited to do a little shopping for you guys :) I was going to go on my lunch break to the post office, but forgot that we are having a work lunch today! So I don't think I'll make it to the post office until tomorrow morning. Don't fret though, I will get up early and make it tomorrow if I have to! I can't wait for all of my snail mail friends to see their goodies!

If you haven't signed up for my snail mail idea but have thought about it, you really should! I promise you won't be disappointed and besides that, who doesn't love unexpected mail and little goodies to brighten up your day?

I hope everyone is having a great Friday. I personally couldn't be more excited that the weekend is here!