We had an early van time of 5:30AM leaving Milwaukee, but at least we were eventually heading back to Denver. It was lightly snowing in Milwaukee and it was cold! Our flight to Phoenix was a little over half full - so it'd be a relatively easy morning for us. What we didn't expect, though, were the 130 mph headwinds! Yowza! It took us over FOUR HOURS to fly there. Fortunately, all our passengers were cool, calm and collected.
After a quick cleaning of the plane, we were on our way back to Denver. We were full to the gills, including an extra flight attendant, pilot, and FAA inspector. Fun fun! But the flight was a little over an hour...so it went by quickly. Thank goodness. I was ready to go home.
This trip really took it out of me. First off, it was the early show times - I had to get up at 3:30AM on Friday morning to sit the couch at 6AM at DIA, then 3:15AM on Saturday morning to get to DIA in time for my 5:40AM show time, 3:15AM (Denver time) on Sunday morning to catch the 5:00AM van (local time) to the Houston airport, and then 3:45AM (Denver time) on Monday morning to catch the 5:30AM van (local time) to the Milwaukee airport. Needless to say, I fell asleep last night on the sofa at 8PM and didn't wake up until 6AM. Woo hoo! It felt good to sleep in!
Another factor that made this trip a bit harder were the other flight attendants. Very nice ladies and very good at their job. But brutally honest. One kept telling everyone that I was trying to be "Super Stew" (which is not a bad thing), but she put me to shame with all her highlighters, addressing passengers by their surnames (at least those that were identified on our paperwork), cleaning the coffeepots with a scrub brush, and always keeping busy. It was almost as if she could not sit still! She told me that I was very "opinionated" - very strong in my convictions and feelings. She also said that I had a very dry sense of humor. When I got yelled at by the passengers the previous day, all she said was "there, there...you've got to keep a positive attitude." That's true, but it was hurtful being the target of so many people on one flight.
The other flight attendant was nice enough, but bristled when I tried to "do things by the book." Things such as making the announcements according to the newest release, especially the safety demo one. I felt that they considered me stiff and unbending. Oh well. Near the end of the flight when they served a 2nd drink to a couple who I had just said no to, and then the woman got up at a time when the seatbelt light was on to go pee because of all the alcohol she had consumed, I made a reminder announcement about the seatbelt sign being lit. The comment I got from my co-worker was "you're not making sure that she's having a positive travel experience." Hmmm.
She later told me she was "just kidding," but serving two drinks to one person during an hourlong flight and then having the same person disregard FAA regulations because their bladder was now full, it seems to me that we contributed to her a) inebriatedness and b) breaking FAA rules. But I was overridden, yet again, because I am too stiff and unbending.
The entire trip was filled with little comments here and there from one or the other. Maybe I was just too touchy and wearing my feelings on my sleeve. I don't know. Maybe I was too touchy because I was so tired from the long flights and short nights' sleep. Who knows?
The moral of this story, I guess, is that having a crew with the same beliefs and practices as you can really help make it a positive experience. If we do our jobs the way we were trained, these kind of "conflicts" wouldn't arise as often, and we'd all be on the same page. Fortunately, this situation does not happen very often...
But now I've got THREE WHOLE DAYS off during which I need to put up all the indoor Christmas stuff. I'm not making very good headway...I keep getting drawn to the computer to check my email, Facebook, or do some online ordering for gifts. Focus...I need to focus.
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