The Turbulence and Tailwinds of being a Flight Attendant (Pros vs Woes) Part 2

Fasten your seatbelts—this one’s gonna be a little bumpy. In this episode, we break down the turbulence and tailwinds of being a flight attendant, from unforgettable perks and life-changing moments to the behind-the-scenes struggles nobody warns you about. The pros? Iconic. The woes? Very real. Buckle up for honesty at cruising altitude. Two part episode!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are entirely our own. We're speaking as private uh individuals and free thinkers, and nothing we say reflects the views, policies, or positions of our employer or any organization we're affiliated with. Nothing discussed on this podcast should be interpreted as professional, operational, or safety guidance or as an official statement from any airline. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. And with that being said, we are welcoming you all to Jumpsy Chronicles.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Yes. How y'all doing? How y'all doing? How y'all doing? Welcome back.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Welcome back. I am Josh.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

We have I am still Michelle.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Come on, still Michelle. Yes. That's an album. And it's dairying y'all was going on. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. We are welcome you all back. Um, definitely want to say we are loving you all in the comment section on our social medias. We want you all to continue to like, share, reshare, post, send us messages, all of that. Please keep it respectful. We do want to say that. We don't want um any fights or anything to break out online. But we definitely want you all to um share because this this platform, even though we're up here, this is for all of us. Yes, all of us as flight attendants, all of us that have perspective to be a flight attendant. So thank you all for sitting down and in the jump seat with us as we uh break down another episode. Episode three. Yes, already. Episode three. And y'all, I got on green because it's March and it's my birthday month, and I'm a Pisces, and I share another Pisces Pisces brother in the room. Uh-oh. Aquarius. Aquarius.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

All day, baby. But I'm on a cusp. I'm right there because I'm two days away from being a Pisces. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Okay. Yeah. Okay. Y'all pray for me in here. You got two of the best. You got two of the best.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

You got two different energies. I thought we both was that Pisces Piscean energy.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

That's all right. I love both of y'all, though. So YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Happy belated birthday to uh Darius. Thank y'all so much. The year of 39. Ah, glory.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

That much closer to 40. God is good. I am grateful for it. Yes. Another year above ground.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

I know that's right. Do you hear me? I know. And I am getting ready to celebrate another year around the sun, and I'm thankful. And I'm thankful most importantly, I get to do this with y'all.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Because this is a great opportunity. Um, not only for us, because some of the stuff and feedback we've been getting uh from those out in the universe, um, they're happy we're doing this. Yes. And it means it's a reassuring, it's a very reassuring definitely is. And we're thankful. We're thankful to be the conduit of Jumpsy Chronicles. So the question of today is what and or who are you currently listening to?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Ooh. So I don't know if y'all know. TI is back with another banger. It sounds straight like it is from 1998.

SPEAKER_03 3:43

Not a par.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yes, it does. And it has been heavy in rotation. I can't listen to nothing else but that right now. So I don't know if y'all heard, but go listen to it.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

I'm gonna have to check it out. You know, I love T.I. I'm gonna always love T.I.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

So um I'm waiting on the rest of the album, and I saw a little clip of I think the making of the video and who popped up. Nope, none other than Mr. 25 himself. That man never ages. For real, I was like, Oh my god. Oh, I know it's gonna be good. I said, Oh, I know it's gonna be good.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

His skincare was it's crazy. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

That's why I said that man is 25, Mr. 25. So when I saw a clip of him, and I guess they were making a video, and I know it's gonna be good. Hike Williams was directing, I said, it's gonna be good. I already know this is gonna be good, so I cannot wait. Yeah, so he's in rotation heavy right now. Okay, bringing back all the old.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Yes, and we need it. What about you?

SPEAKER_02 4:40

For me, don't judge me, y'all. I'm still uh blasting Cardi B's album. I love her new album. It is so yes, it's everything. It gives you a bit of everything, so many different emotions. The vulnerable side, the ratchet side, she have you dance, she have you feeling good, and it is she put a great body of work together. But also, I am in love with um Leon Thomas. His new his music is everything. And if y'all haven't seen his tiny desk, check it out. Um, it's so much more than him just a song, but he has so many other great songs. Check it out. And also, my last one, because I love music I listen all day, is Ari Linux. She has a new album out of yes, please check it out. I think it's called Vacancy. That's my girl. She just she just understands, and I love love good RB girls. Shout out to RB girlies, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Yeah, I have to say, um, definitely Bruno Mars in love with him. Uh I just might it's it's old but new to your uh point, and the fact that he's getting ready to come out with his tour and it's gonna have Leon on it. So I'm definitely looking forward. The only person I feel like he's missing is Kevin Ross because I love Kevin Ross. Yes, love Kevin Ross. And so, and I have not, God rest his soul, Richard Smallwood. I have been playing that music nonstop ever since he done went on to glory because them songs still hit. They still tickle Jesus' feet. I have to say, I'm still in that place where it uh comes on um on music. So we are in episode uh three. However, so however, this is our second part to the turbulence and tailwinds of being a flight attendant, the woes. We are on the woes today, y'all. The reasons that some might not want to be a flight attendant anymore, or the difficult parts of our job. And so uh we're gonna talk about it. You ready? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Oh, absolutely. You ready and ready?

SPEAKER_03 6:48

Oh, yes. When we stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready. All right. And and I will say, even though it might get a little thick and heavy in here when it comes to us talking about that, it's not to the point where we don't want to be flight attendants anymore because we deal with a lot of difficult stuff. However, sometimes that's fuel to keep us going.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

So endurance, baby, endurance.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

So, first one for me, if y'all don't mind, if I can go ahead and go ahead, kick it off. And I have a feeling everybody in the industry that's a flight attendant is gonna agree, is being disrespected by the same people whose life you gotta save in a case of evacuation or emergency.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Say that one more time.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

Louder by the same people whose life you will have to save in a case of an evacuation or an emergency. Louder. I have been called everything under the sun by the same people whose lives will be in our hands that we have to take care of and save if something goes wrong. If they have medical emergency in the air, that we are the same ones that have to assist you and try to keep you alive until we get on the ground. Yeah, but yeah, we are disrespected on a regular basis. And I personally feel like I don't know if y'all agree, since COVID, it's like people have gotten even more balls to say certain things to us and be disrespectful and talk to us any kind of way, assaulting us and things like that. And it has gotten ridiculous, and everything is now recorded, and it's just at an all-time high. And I will never understand getting into a plane, knowing that these people are here to help save you. Because at the end of the day, we are safety professionals first. We are here to help you in the case of any type of emergencies. We are your first responders. If anything, I would think you'd be nice to those people, respectful to those people. And I know there are flightists that are mean. Yes, and let's be real, there are some bad apples out here in this bunch. But the level of disrespect that we deal with and have to chew that up and keep on going, bite our tongues a lot because there's a lot of things people want to say, but we can't. And that's one of the things that's not so pretty about this job is you you're gonna deal with a lot, and it's not always good. Correct. And you gotta have some some thick skin. If you don't, you're gonna get some.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah. That that to me is the ultimate woe of this job. You know, if we could categorize woes in a, you know, if we could rank them, that to me is the ultimate woe. No one wants to go to work in a space and be disrespected by anybody at your job. You want to be respected for not just what you do, but who you are.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Yes. And the amount of people that don't respect us at our job for what we do and consider us as I think we said it on our previous episode, you know, a vending machine or just a snack and drink machine. That's not what we do. Yeah, or a sky waitress. Oh, I've heard that one as well. It's it's complete disrespect and respect the position.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Don't minimize it.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah. I'm I'm I don't diminish anyone's role in what they do. You're not just a waitress, you're not just a flight attendant. You are a first responder. In that air, once that door closes, anything that happens is going to be our responsibility to handle it. The pilots are piloting.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

And if anything happens beyond that door closing, it's up to us or hoping that your cabin crew has had adequate sleep, adequate hydration. They know what they're doing. They paid attention in their annual re-qualification or recurrent training. Flight attendant word of the day. Um, you know, and they took time and took care to pay attention in those videos or modules and got that hands-on training together because that is what is going to save your life, or make sure that you make it home to all of your family milestones and you know, and things that you want to do. So respect the position that we're in.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

And to that point of being disrespected. One thing our passengers that are not in the industry should make one realize that we are passengers just as well. Um, we go through the same trial and tribulation that you go through when you are um frustrated because it's delays. Yes. Those delays also work on us. You're frustrated because they mishandled your bag. We've had bags mishandled. You're frustrated because the drink spilled on you. How about we've had whole trays spill on us? Like we are just as equally in the feelings and emotions. You are, if not ten times more, because we've not only dealt with your situation, we're dealing with maybe five other situations on that same plane. And even after that, we're gonna deal with ten more once you leave the plane. Then don't even take, don't even factor in what we might be dealing with outside of me standing in this aisle smiling and sing about whatever you're going through. Because back at home, I still have other things that I'm mentally trying to block out while showing up to be present for you. And yes, I get paid to do that. All of us, all humans, as far as I know, that work get paid to do a lot of things that we have to smile through. Yes. And so all we ask sometimes is to keep that part into consideration when dealing with a flight attendant. And this is not taken away from others that are in other careers that have to do it. We're all we're saying is just as much you have to do it in your career, keep that same energy when you come on the plane. Because we so many times, this is a new this is a segue into another negative for me. I hate rudeness. And if I am standing there saying good morning.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

The least you can do is say it back.

SPEAKER_03 13:31

The least you can do is say it back. It's only two words. Give me a hair nod or something. Just acknowledgement.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Acknowledge.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

And acknowledgement.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Because you're gonna make sure you you're visible when it's time for you to be a drink. Acknowledge me. It's simple. And to your point, you're going to, you're gonna wake up, you're gonna roll your ass if I miss you, like uh because I didn't get your drink order even though you were sleeping. I didn't want to disturb you, you're gonna get upset and feel like you weren't acknowledged. So acknowledge me. I'm not a robot. Yeah, I'm not just standing here for my health. I am standing here because I have to show up, not for Joshua. That's a part of it, but I have to show up for you because, like you said, safety professionals. If something goes down, I've been trained to go into action to whatever the situation is, I gotta show up and solve it. I gotta uh if I can't solve it, I got to be a proxy until it gets solved. So yeah, I that's how I view that. Yeah, that's how I view that.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah, that's a good one. Um, for me, it's uh woe for me is your body clock and your sleep schedule comes from the floor. Completely out of whack. And no matter how much sleep you get or how you try to regulate that, it never is the same once you become a flight attendant.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

Agreed.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

And what is a little known statistic is a lot of your flight attendants end up either voluntarily or through a doctor's assistance on some kind of sleep aid.

SPEAKER_04 15:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

And it just is what it is. Do we want to go there? No. Does it happen because we need some kind of regulation of our sleep due to our profession? Yes. You know, and it's really your sleep is flight is fighting for first position.

SPEAKER_04 15:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

You know, and with that, it leads to consistent fatigue. You know, and the fatigue sets in because you're upset because you can't sleep. And so what ends up happening, you end up, unfortunately, doom scrolling for hours or watching TV for hours.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

It just happened to me the other day. I was about to say, Darius does red eyes.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

I can't do that.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Woo!

SPEAKER_03 15:56

This is the first word of this episode that we're going to point out to you. Red eye. That is a flight that is usually after 12 a.m. going somewhere. Sometimes it might even be 10 a.m. 10 p.m. Excuse me, 10 p.m. Uh and 11 p.m. But that's what a red-eye fly is. Uh flight is where your eyes are so heavy and stressed out because they're still open. I think that's the reason why they came up with that. Flying overnight. Flying overnight. That's a red-eye flight.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Yeah. And, you know, not only is fatigue physical, you're mentally fatigued. Oftentimes our brains are never asleep. Your brains are constantly awake because you've worked a potentially AM shift or a morning shift, and you've transitioned into night flying.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

And that's mentally and physically taxing on your body. That's a whoa. Does it change the job? Absolutely. One month you can be, hey, I'm on AMs. Next month, oh, you're on PM trips or night trips. And what if you have a midday trip? Now your body's all messed up because now you don't know what time you're going to sleep or what time you're awake. And let's not factor in you're in a hotel and God bless the hotel staffs out there. We love you, but man, when you are vacuuming in the a.m. And I just came from a red eye.

SPEAKER_03 17:29

Lord.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

God bless you. We love you, but man, it is loud.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

And let's not forget the ones who knocking your door, come in your door, why are you trying to do that?

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Some of them hotels set us up.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

It's like, wait a minute, do you didn't hear me say I'm good? Like you don't see that do not disturb.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

But they know at the front desk when I'm checking out. Why are you knocking on my door?

SPEAKER_01 17:51

It's low-key disrespectful. But we love y'all. But it is low-key disrespectful.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

But even um to that um sleep, like we have literally been in, I know for all my exes, I'll put it this way. For all my exes and my partner, literally, they know when I come from a trip, I might be sleep for a whole day. Yes. Don't bother me, don't ask me for too much, because I done came from the West Coast to the East Coast, back to the West Coast, back to the like I done did that for three days. So even when me and my best friend, when uh she and I were roommates, she got to see firsthand. When I would come from a trip, I would be exhausted. And she was like, Oh wow, I never understood people and their travel and how it wears on the body, but seeing it firsthand and seeing you and knowing what you go through, she was like, Yeah, it's taxing. It it travel is taxing. That is a big woe.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

It is, you know, the the the part that makes it the most taxing on us. The one thing we all hate is them short overnights. Yes, you get 10, 11-hour overnights, and sometimes you might have a schedule 18-hour overnight in one of your favorite cities, and then all of a sudden, Mother Nature wants to act the fool, and now your 18-hour overnight has now been changed to 11 or 10 because you are now delayed.

unknown 19:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yeah, and another thing that a lot of people do not know, which is why we're always saying hurry up and sit down, flight attendants do not get paid until that door is closed. So imagine being at your job, knowing you're gonna be at that job four or five hours longer because of things that are out of your control. Yes. And on top of that, your pay has not even started until you get through that job and it's time to go. Yep. It's it's it's it can be very, very draining. And then you finally get to your layover, you gotta wait for the shuttle to get there. Yes. Sometimes they're late. Once you get there, you got to check in and you get upstairs. Now you get down to eight hours. Yes. And we're supposed to get eight hours of sleep, but that's not happening because now we got to get on the phone, call our loved ones, say check on them, see, make sure the house ain't burnt down before you get home. You got to do your homework if you're in school, like me. You have to check on your partner, your spouses, make sure they're reassured that you're still there for them. And by the time you do that, you look up, you got five hours left. Yep. And then you expected to get up the next day, right out of bushytail to get on this plane and give exemplary service. Yeah. And it can be draining, but we do it because at the end of the day, there's a bigger picture. Yes, we love it.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

We definitely love what we do. And even you touched on it while you were talking, reroutes. People don't, you know, as passengers, this just gonna come here, come here, come only in close. I'm gonna let you in on a little thing. We understand when there are delays and your flight gets canceled and you're frustrated. However, we in the thick of it with you. Yes, flight attendants and pilots. Uh, because I'm gonna bring my brothers and sisters that are pilots in on this one. Um, when your flight is canceled, our whole trip is reworked. Yeah. We, like he said, might have been going some. Well, New Orleans. We talk about New Orleans next week. We might have been going to New Orleans for 18, 24 hours, ready to just have a time. But now we are about to go to Midland, Odessa. Midland, Odessa, or or a little small rinky town in I ain't even gonna call it. I ain't gonna call no states or nothing. But and guess what? We gotta spend now 11 hours there. It's not fun for us. But we're still gonna smile through it. We still gonna get on the plane, and here's a snack. And and and and not only snack and drinks, we're going. To listen to you gripe, but not share that our whole world done fell apart because we done made plans. Sometimes we've gotten better. Not gotten better. I've learned over time. I stopped making plans overnight. You jinx yourself. Because that's when you jinx yourself. Yes. When you start making plans, like, ooh, okay, when I get here, I'm gonna meet up with my friends.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

I still just tell people, just don't. I tell my friends, listen, I might be here, but I'm not gonna tell you what we're doing until I get there. Man, and go into the hotel. Because every time you do, every single schedule, guys, the weather be like, uh I got a joke for you. I got something for you.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

We just we just don't make plans, we just don't make plans anymore. I just I just tell my friends, uh, I'm scheduled to be here. Do you have plans? And they say no. I said, keep your schedule open for the possibility that I might be there.

SPEAKER_03 22:56

I stopped telling people. I get I still get people upset when I officially know that I'm I'm actually in flight getting ready to land. I'm like, oh hey, I'm in time. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Because I didn't know it was.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Well, at least you do that, Josh. I don't even do that. I let very few people know that I'm coming until I am on the shuttle, on the way. Surprise, I'm here. I guess what I've arrived in your city. When did you know? Just now. Yeah. Because I don't like breaking hearts of my loved ones that are expecting to see me because the last time I did that, they cooked food for me and I didn't arrive. You to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Bought tickets to events and can't get things to the video.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

And I don't like to do that to my family and my loved ones. So I just I am almost like FedEx. I just arrived.

SPEAKER_03 23:53

Yeah. Oh, I didn't know you were coming. I'd be, I I have been in overnight that I know that I could have reached out to people. One, I honestly have stopped doing it from the standpoint of because I done got in here and didn't know if I was coming or not, I don't want you to have to rework your schedule to accommodate me. I feel some type of way. I feel like you, oh, and I've had family men. No, let me know. It makes me feel uncomfortable because I don't want to do that.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Yeah, just like you're doing me. Yeah. People like, oh, I'm in town. Have fun. Yeah. I'm in the bed, I'm smoking hoogums, watching TV and watching Netflix. I'm good. Sorry. Last minute, I'm chilling.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and speaking on, you know, family, another con, you potentially could miss life events. We miss them all the time. I've missed weddings. I've unfortunately missed funerals. I have missed the birth of friends' babies. You know, I've missed so many events over my 20 years of flying that it doesn't even phase me anymore that I miss things. I tell my family now, if you don't give me at least a month or two advanced notice for something, consider me not being there because you haven't given me notice.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

And I I'm I'm raising and stuff because I wanted to interject because from our last episode, we told people about, oh, we have wonderful schedules, and you you say you have wonderful schedules, and you can build your schedule and you can be there for whatever, and you make time for all that. We we said all that, right? We did say all of that. However, reroutes happen, cancellations happen, misconnects, being junior assigned or whatever it is for whatever airline where you might have thought you were getting ready to leave that aircraft and leave the airport, but you get a phone call that says I need you to go here, and you can't say no. We cannot say no. We will be fired. Yeah. A lot of people don't know that either. Yeah. So I won't I want people to think we're not being contradictory because that does happen. Uh-huh. Where yes, we do end up missing things, even though we've made plans. Plans for our off days now. Yes. Because we also, with reroutes, we get stranded places. If weather hits, whether it's Denver, whether it hits Chicago, whether it's Baltimore, whether it's LA or San Francisco, because the fog is real thick and you can't get out.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Or, or even outside of that, we'll go to the unfortunate. No one was expecting September 11th to happen. The people that were, you know, unfortunate, you know, God bless the flight crews, you know, and the aviators that were out on September 11th. September the 10th, everyone left home that was working as an aviator, expecting to be home on September 11th. So many people were out. The crews that were out didn't get home until September 15th, September 16th, September 18th, because they didn't.

SPEAKER_04 27:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

The government grounded every single carrier for days, for a week.

SPEAKER_04 27:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

There was no flying. So how many life events were missed because of that? We never anticipate anything like that happening again. But if something monumental happens, we have to be prepared for those kinds of incidents and accidents and situations that could potentially occur. And then you have, you know, Boeing grounded planes. You know, and if that happens, guess what? We're stuck. You know, Airbus can't carry everybody. And if you happen to be on an all-boeing carrier or an all-airbus carrier and there is a grounding of your aircraft, how are you gonna get home? So there have to be, you know, concessions for the things that I am in the industry where if something were to happen, you know, we have to be prepared for that.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

Yes. And even for our unfortunate brothers and sisters that have worked for airlines that completely closed on them and they didn't get a notice of nothing. Of nothing. They went to work one day and then get wake up the next day to find out they have to find their own way home. So our hearts go out to them, um, especially.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

I also just want to, while we're because today is a very special day, um, on this day just last year, um, unfortunately, the American Airlines flight for 5342 that was um collided with the helicopter and all 67 people on board died. Yeah that's a very, very sad thing that unfortunately is a reality in our our our profession. And it's the one thing that we hope we never have to experience, but we're trained for. And that's another thing that is unfortunate about what we have to consider is the fact that there's a slight possibility that something could go wrong. And I just wanted to recognize that crew from that flight because today is the anniversary of that happening and shed light on the fact that we're not promised to come home every day in our profession, just like police officers, firefighters, and things like that. And we want to always remember that life is precious. Yes, you know, and things happen. Plane crashes happen, planes divert off the off the skid off the runway. You know, you have engine failure, things like that. But we continue to do what we do because we know that there's a big spiritual and we love what we do. But I just want to shout off the families and the loved ones of American Flight 5342 and the crew and the passengers who lost their lives last year and just sending everyone love. But yeah, it's just one of the things that we have to consider in our profession.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

And I do want to say, because uh, you know, we're gonna get some people to write in and say certain things. Uh we are recording in January for March. So I know this is going to air in March, and but we would be remiss with not honoring them. So I do want to uh thank Darien for honoring um those brothers and sisters that we did lose. But before you hit the comment section and be disrespectful, know that we're honoring them on the day that we're supposed to remember them. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

All right. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

For I also have another thing that can be cumbersome in our jobs, and we deal with it every now and then, but when it happens, it's like, uh, y'all get to y'all hotel, you get to your overnight, you shower, you find your show you want to watch, you get in bed, and you're chilling, and you see a certain critter crawling across the pillow. Or from my experience, across the curtain in a room. And you go look, and oh, it's Mr. Bad Bug. And mind you, this happens at some of the nicest hotels. I'm not gonna say no names and no brands, but it happens quite often where flight attendants are wake up to bed bug bites, cockroaches in the room, yes, sometimes even mice. Yes. And when I tell you the worst way to disrupt somebody's sleep is bed bugs, it's the worst. You gotta go home scratching and messed up because of bed bugs. Because you just so happened to get to your hotel, didn't know they were there, and they had you for dinner on your overnight. It's one of the worst situations to be in. It's no going back to sleep after that. It's really not, it's really not that part.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

Yeah, fatigue, hashtag fatigue. Even go a step further, being on an overnight, and you're in the middle of a shootout.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

Oof.

SPEAKER_03 32:04

Or God forbid, earthquake, hurricane, or even tornado, or even just dead sleep, fire alarm go up. Yes! Oh baby, I'd have been there.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

And that wakes you up, and and you are in that nice good rim sleep. Cold room thick. Cold. You wake up and now your sleep is interrupted, and now you have to go out your room, walk, and you're always on the highest level, and you have to take a thousand stairs to get downstairs, and you're outside in the freezing cold because of course it's always a state right in the middle of winter, and you're outside freezing cold. Have to remember your phone, your badge, your key, and all the things, and you're waiting for the fire department to get there and now you have to be in the lobby in two hours to go and get that exemplary service. That fantastic service. But these are the things as passengers, you don't want to hear about. You don't want to hear about the things that we that just transpired the night before. All you want to hear is good morning. This is how I take my coffee. This is how I want my orange juice or my bloody Mary or my Jack and Coke. Shout out to my Jack and Coke drinkers. First thing in the morning. You know, those are the things that we don't talk about, you know, and that no, it's not your concern as a passenger. And these are not gripes, these are just woes of the flight attendant life.

SPEAKER_03 33:40

And one um, one thing that I know we've talked about and we've experienced uh shout out to Darien for all those that need to know. He came up with a great post that we were polling our flight attendants on some of their you know, little pet peeves and stuff. Um, we're gonna have an episode about that. However, that's gonna be good. One of the biggest things that was recurring that I saw often in the messages were we get poked and touched as flight attendants. I don't understand. I mean, they poke you on your arm, they poke you in your side, they poke in the butt, they poke like it happens so often that if we got paid a dollar for it, we would be millionaires. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Retire millionaires, we could retire. It's like uh y'all see that flights in the car button, but y'all still wanna and it's there, it is there.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

The the airlines were smart enough to know. Let me put this here so get the attention of the flight attendant. Flight attendants, and we're aware of when it gets pushed because we know the sound, we know the the the light, we are aware of that button. So that's why it's there for us to come running and help you, not for you to can you imagine going to Popeyes?

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Hey, I need a three-piece extra spice, and don't forget my jalapeno pepper. You're gonna be ready to fight, but y'all can explain. Excuse me, and it'd be for the silly for trash. Absolutely. Oh, really? You couldn't yes, you can wave, you can give me one or hello, or excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Or even better, or even better, use your voice.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

Everyone has one, everyone can use it. And and for those who can't, because we understand there are passengers who cannot use their voice, they're great at gesturing. We don't have to use our hands to touch your flight attendants.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

Use your hands to touch the call light. There we go. Thank you. Trust me, it works. Every time it works, it works. And if it and the wonderful thing about airlines, if yours doesn't work, the seat next to you, the button for the seat next to you works, and the button for the other seat, like you got three buttons to choose from.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

The one across the aisle works, the one behind you works, the one two seats above.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

It's a lot of ways of flight attendant's attention, but poking and touching is not it.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

Especially when majority of them don't be washing their hands after they come out the bathroom. Because toilet flush, and you already walking about the bathroom. The math ain't mathing. You ain't wash your hands that fast. Because I was called a school in a third grade, you're supposed to wash your hands for at least 30 seconds. You ain't did that. Please don't touch me. We love you, but please don't touch.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

I agree. I think another woe. Um, and we're gonna get into it uh in a different episode, but is dealing with our crews going through traumatic events. Yes, yes, that is definitely a way and you have to wake up to find out that your co-worker unalived themselves and now you're going down a wormhole of what you could have did, what you could have done. And the answer to that is nothing because you don't know what and why that person made that choice. But we as flight attendants have to deal with co-workers that are on the jump seat breaking down because unexpectedly they were hit with divorce papers right before the trip started or have to leave home while their child is in the hospital because they couldn't get somebody to pick up their trip and maybe scheduling or or some supervisor maybe didn't help them out in that moment and and they were on their last, maybe racked up sick days and couldn't get off. I mean, there's a number of reasons why and and because I'm saying all that because somebody will say, Well, they could have did this, they could have done it. Yes, but sometimes they can't.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

The options aren't the options aren't aren't available for them in the moment. And that's you know, that's the one thing that you know is a whoa, how emotional emotionally draining this position is because it can lead to, you know, you're alone, but you're never lonely.

SPEAKER_04 38:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

You know, that's you know, that's a unfortunate with this job, you know, you're surrounded by people, but you can be so lonely. Yes, you know, in this job, and no one really talks about that part of this job, you know. It can be, you know, you get to your hotel room or you're driving home and you realize how alone, you know, or lonely you really are. Even you can be in a relationship and still be lonely. Yes. Because it's hard to talk to if you don't have anybody to talk to or an outlet to vent to about how crappy your trip was or what just happened on that trip, or even the things that you were just speaking about, Josh. You know, my coworker just, you know, went through XYZ and their divorce or their relationship or potential abuse that they're experiencing at home. Yes. Verbal, mental, physical abuse that they're experiencing. Where do I take this? Who do I take this to? Yes, you know, and just about every aviation company has resources to deal with that. Yes, you know, so take comfort in knowing that the resources are there for flight attendants, but not everyone, you know, chooses to use them. So it's, you know, our jump seat actually does become kind of a confessional. You know, and whether you want to or not, we become our own, you know, therapists for for each other. Whether you want to become one or not, we are therapists.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Beyond us, yes, you know, and not only for each other, but passengers for the passengers, you know.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

Sometimes people come up and they just need to vent. Yes, you know, and it's like, we didn't want that, but here we yet here we are, you know, in that space. And sometimes people just most people they just want to be heard. Heard, absolutely. You know, they've they've come to the airport, they've been, they, you know, they've had to check their bag, they didn't expect to pay. Well, now they're paying. They've gone through TSA, who has just felt them up. Shout out TSA. They've gone through a scanner. Yes, they keep us safe. They've gone through a scanner, they've walked through the airport, they've gotten on a very crowddy, stuffy train. They've now come over to us. They didn't get the seat they wanted. Now they're in a seat they didn't want. And the first human contact they have is us, and now they want to vent out that frustration. I said good morning, and now all of a sudden, I am we are bearing that grunt of that frustration. All they want is that human contact, and they're gonna vent it out. Is it our responsibility to bear that brunt? No, but do we take it with the smile? Absolutely. So, in saying all of that to say a what another woe is the emotional taxation that this job affords or allows on us can be great.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

I agree from the standpoint that the reason why from episode one to episode two, and today we're going to continue to say we are flight professionals because not only do we carry around a manual that tells us how to help potentially save someone's life, but we've been trained at CPR. We've been trained on a group of firefighters and on equipment that we have on the plane that will, as far as the IAD machine and um uh other machines and equipment that we have on board to potentially save somebody's life. And whether the person is saved, whether it's not, we still have to deal with the aftermath of that, with that person's family, if they're traveling with somebody, we have to emotionally deal with it ourselves because I can say I've been in situations where I have had medical situations that left me speechless. And it's it it weighs on you. It weighs, and thankfully most airlines will provide you leeway if they if they can, if it's within their scheduling parameters and structure, and and you're maybe not in uh a town they can't help, but they'll uh relieve you so you can get the um mental help that you need or need a break or whatever they they can do, they will help you out in that, but that weighs on us. That weighs on us heavy.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

And a part of that too is when those things happen on a plane, we have to stomach that and still be there for the other 174 people on the aircraft that are looked to us for safety to make sure that this plane gets to where it needs to go and everything happens like it should. Yes. And we still have to do service and handle the things that we're trained and scared and to do and expect it to do immediately. Missed all of that. And keep a smile.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Yes. Yes. And do it and do it with service with a smile. Service with a smile.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

Say, have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 44:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:07

You know, and it it's tough. So it's just what we ask for out in the world is just show us love. Show us some grace. Yeah. Show us, you know, because we deal with a lot, but we do it because we love to.

SPEAKER_03 44:21

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 44:22

We do because we love our job and we love what we do.

SPEAKER_03 44:25

And even though, like we're saying, these are woes. Um, but within those woes, we find a way to push forward. Yes. We turn these woes and and to price into energy to push forward, to be better. Because actually, in anything you do, you should be asking questions on how I can be better. Whether you're a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, uh a teacher, you work at McDonald's. I whatever you are doing in life, you should be asking questions on what would make this situation better. And as that's what I think we do with one another, um, us collectively, and even our other flight attendant friends and stuff like that, when we share stories and stuff like that. One of the questions I will ask, and I'll hear others ask, well, how could I handle that better or what I could have done differently, even though this person ticked me off or whatever. We we should always be trying to improve.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:34

So we can be better and evolve. Yeah, absolutely. Because that's that's the human experience. Um, and we would be crazy if we would just be sitting up here and saying everything is so perfect. Yeah. Because that's not the human experience. The human experience is the highs and the lows of life.

SPEAKER_02 45:55

So and like I said in the last episode, the good thing about it, yeah, we go through things, but like I said before, every trip is different. Every day at our job is a different experience. So when we leave that plane and go home, we have to let that stuff go and move forward and look forward to the next trip because the next trip might be this one, might have been bad, but the next one might be amazing and look forward to the next day and the next experience.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

And it keeps us going.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Yeah. I agree. It's what fuels us. You know, I mean, it is this lifestyle, you know, a whoa, but a plus is this lifestyle is too addictive to let go.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

Baby. You said how many people leave the airline, come back, or get fired and go to another airline or or or resign and go somewhere. Because once you in the aviation industry, it's hard to do anything else, baby. And it because it's it's like no other.

SPEAKER_03 46:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

It's like no other.

SPEAKER_03 46:50

Yeah. Yeah. I agree. So we're approaching that wonderful time. Oh, so we can go back to our lives. But we hate to leave you guys. We want you to continue to send us messages, continue to um share our post because the more you share, the more we have visibility to be seen by others, those that are in the industry, those that are not, those that want to be, those that don't want to be. Um we want that avenue out there. So like, share, post, repost, all of that good stuff on um YouTube, Instagram, uh, Facebook, TikTok. I don't know, we don't got a Snapchat, but we'll need that. But you will find us at Jumpseat Chronicles Podcast. Don't forget the podcast part. Um, but definitely, and if you see us out in any airport or you happen to be a passenger on our plane, let us know you've watched. We'll be happy to take a picture with you. We'll be happy to uh we well, if we once we start putting out our products, we'll sign it. Um we'll do, we'll, we love that. We love being able to meet our people, being able to meet and connect. So, as I always say, as a reminder, the options shared on this podcast are our own and do not reflect those of any employer or any affiliated organization. Michelle, I want you to do your sign-off, girl.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

It's not about the destination, it's about perspective. We land in places only seen on television or read about in books. We recognize how big and small the world truly is at 34,000 feet. Thanks for riding a jump seat with us. Until next time, we'll see you on the next flight. See y'all soon. All right, see y'all later. Bye bye.