Galley Gossip: Flight attendant – still a hot job to date.

by Heather Poole on

What would you do if you were a flight attendant and some young lad said to you, “I like the way you walk?”

Personally, I would have kept on walking. If possible. Because you never know if there’s going to be a 200 pound drink cart blocking your way. But hey, that’s just me.

One New Zealand flight attendant did not walk away when a passenger commented on the way she worked the aisle. Well maybe she did walk, I don’t really know, but what I do know is she took it a step farther and complained about the rugby player from the South Canterbury team when he asked for her number on a flight from Gisborne to Wellington. Again, I don’t have all the details. The article was short. I’m not even sure exactly when the comment pertaining to the walk was made, but at some point the entire rugby team was offloaded and put on another flight. I wonder if she, the flight attendant, liked the way they walked – off the airplane.

On a side note, I can tell you that John, my friend and fellow coworker, would have been very disappointed to have seen that rugby team go. But that’s another story.

The rugby team coach, Ken Wills, claimed the incident was blown out of proportion. He told the Herald Newspaper, “One of the guys was trying to use a pick-up line and exchange text numbers. The boys had a lot of fun on a flight on the way up and one got an air hostess’s number so they were all trying to match him.”

Every year there’s a popular men’s magazine that rates the top ten hot jobs to date, and each year flight attendant makes that list. It’s true. I’ve seen it. If flight attendant is not THE number one hot job, it is definitely one of the top five. When you’re single and dating, this kind of list not only helps to attract Mister Wrong, but also Mister Never-In-A-Million-Years. Trust me, I know from first hand experience. Believe it or not, there are also websites dedicated to the madness, websites like Crewdating.com. Swear to god. Go look it up if you don’t believe me.

Check out this ad from a lonely guy on Craigslist – Craigslist of all places!

I am the principal of a US based boutique investment bank. I have offices in Shanghai, NYC and Washington DC. I have homes in the US and Shanghai. I am 191 cm, 86 kgs, full head of hair, hazel eyes, and am considered handsome by some. I am absolutely smitten with the elegance of the flight attendants on Singapore Airlines. I spent a great deal of time there, and find myself drawn back time and time again, if not just to fly Sing Air. I would appreciate any introduction… I will share more details of myself and pictures with a reply.

Honestly, I do not see anything wrong with Lonely Guy’s ad. In fact, I’m a little impressed that he knows what he wants and he’s not afraid to ask for it – in an ad. On craigslist. That’s what successful people do. That’s why they’re successful in the first place. I have a very strong feeling that Lonely Guy is going to find his elegant Singapore Girl – in an ad, on craigslist – and I do hope when he does he emails Gadling to tell me all about it! What can I say, I’m a romantic at heart.

While I do have a fondness for Lonely Guy, I’m not so sure what to think of the guy on Ask.com who wrote…

I am an Arabian male and I have always wanted to find a flight attendant ( Air Hostess ) to go out with. I don’t know if it is a fantasy or the interest in finding a person who toured the world but I want to find one that often flies to the Gulf Area (Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait) and hook up. Of course I won’t just date any hostess but we got to be interested in each other. .. I just don’t know where to look!? …. Anyone there who is interested or knows where can I look?

Arabian Male, Whadaya mean you have to actually be interested in one another? And you won’t take just ANY hostess, you say? But why not? Yeah, can someone say booty call? What I find even more amusing than the ad above, are the answers to Arabian Male’s question…

Tara wrote, “The obvious place to look would be an airport or better yet fly first class. It seems the first class passengers always get the most attention–then just work your magic. My real advice: Give it up, babe.”

JB wrote, “Go to the airport. Be there 24/7. Whenever a flight attendant pass by you .. say hi .. or pretend to be a passenger and ask a question … simple as that .”
I’d say Tara and JB both gave pretty sound advice. Advice I suggest not to take came from The Player at Askmen.com, who wrote a post entitled How to pick up a flight attendant. I do not know one flight attendant who would fall for his nonsense. And then there was Doc Love’s “interesting” post, Are flight attendants dateable, full of advice on, you guessed it, flight attendants and the game of dating. You did notice the words the game are in italics? Good. Because I’m not even sure what to make of that – game. Believe it or not, the best advice came from the website ehow.com…
  • Make a great first impression by dressing neatly, instead of going for comfort with sweat pants and flip-flops like many fliers do. Smile, be friendly and try to join in light conversation. Because most fliers tend to ignore flight attendants until they need something, your outgoing personality will quickly catch her eye.Take any opportunity to help her out. For example, if she is struggling to fit someone’s oversize carry-on into the overhead compartment, jump up from your seat and offer to help.

  • Flirt a little, but not so much that she finds you annoying or even threatening. Make eye contact now and then, be polite saying please and thank you. While you want your interest to be obvious, you don’t want to come off as desperate.

  • Remember that flight attendants risk losing their jobs by accepting a date with a client while working. So, instead of directly trying to pick her up while she is surrounded by co-workers and clients, simply slip her a business card on your way off the plane. If desired, you might add a short note to the back of the card. Avoid the temptation to verbally pick her up, as you are sure to get a solid no.

Meeting a flight attendant is one thing, but being able to really date, as in having the confidence and patience to deal with a job that takes your love interest out of town for days at a time, even on the holidays, is quite another. Just ask my husband, a man I met on a flight.

Galley Gossip: Best invention for kids on the airplane – CARES

by Heather Poole on

After reading all the responses to my post, Ivana Trump Harasses two little kids on a flight, I can not believe how many people think that kids do not belong on the airplane. Some people even suggested that airlines create a kid section, like a smoking section in a restaurant. While I, too, get annoyed when there’s a little stinker sitting behind me screaming his head off and kicking the back of my seat WHILE the parents do nothing, not all children (just like not all adults) are trouble makers in flight . In fact, I’d say most children do just fine at 35,000 feet. I know my little one is a fantastic traveling partner. Can’t say the same thing about other people I know.

The kid, my kid, and I just flew from Los Angeles to Honolulu. That kid, the one up there in the photo, the one that causes worried looks during the boarding process, only to be complimented for being such a good boy while deplaning, has traveled about once a month since he was three months old. The kid loves going to the airport with mommy. Mommy hasn’t always loved going to the airport with him, not with all the stuff that has to be dragged along on the flight. Until now.

If you have kids you already how difficult it can be traveling, especially when everyone aboard the aircraft is giving you the evil eye, and your kid hasn’t even done anything wrong! Taking along the little one can be very stressful, especially when you’re lugging all that stuff that’s going to entertain the kid. (stickers, crayons, books, the DVD player, all of it!) Trust me, I know it’s a lot to carry, along with a kid and a thirty pound car seat, but you need it! Please tell me you didn’t forget it?

Good news, people, traveling with children doesn’t have to be so bad. Move over Sit-N-Stroll (the worlds best invention ever for kids under two years of age) there’s a new product in town – CARES. CARES stands for child aviation restraint system. According to the Kidsflysafe website…

it’s designed specially for airplanes and is FAA certified as having an equivalent level of safety to a car seat for all phases of flight. CARES is manufactured by AmSafe, the foremost manufacturer of airplane seatbelts and other safety restraints. Best of all, CARES weighs only 1 lb, fits in a 6″ carrying case, fits all airplane seats and takes a mere 1 minute to install.

Now I’ll admit, I had used CARES once before, when my son had just turned one (the age you can use CARES), and that flight from Los Angeles to Dallas did not go so well for us. In fact, I swore I’d never travel again – with him. The kid kept scooting all the way down in his seat so that his head was the only thing leaning against the seat back. When he did finally straighten up, the last twenty minutes of flight, he didn’t look too comfortable sleeping with his chin against his chest, so it was back to the SIT-N-STROLL for us. Man oh man, I loved that thing, while it lasted.

Now that my son is two, he’s bigger and stronger and can walk by himself. That means I can ditch the stroller. And he listens when mommy tells him to sit still, to not kick the seat in front of him, to not bang on the tray table, to not touch the call light, to not run around the aircraft, to not act like…well…those kids sitting behind us! Since he no longer needs to be in “lockdown”, like the kids sitting behind us, CARES works magnificently.

I used to dread traveling with my son. It didn’t matter where we were going. The whole packing the diaper bag, getting to the airport, carrying the car seat through security, getting situated on the airplane, just so we can do it all over again routine just about killed me. Thankfully things have changed. Let me tell you, it’s so much easier to travel with a young child when all you have to do is bring along a few toys and a pair of straps that come in a bag that the kid can carry, that kid actually wants to carry all by himself!

“That’s my bag,” he says, the lightweight blue bag dangling over his shoulder.

“That’s right!” I say, as we zip through the airport, onto the airplane, no problem.

Galley Gossip: The second best thing about being a flight attendant – Waikiki, Hawaii

by Heather Poole on

It was Monday morning and we (my mother, my husband, my son, and I) were in the rental car, a bright red Malibu, on our way from a relaxing long weekend in Ko Olina to the Honolulu airport, when I heard a long sigh from the back seat.

“I don’t want to leave,” said my mother, also a flight attendant, as she stared out the window at a city she once called home forty years ago. Believe it or not, this was her first trip back.

“Me, neither,” I said, as the exit sign to Pearl Harbor, where my father had once worked, passed over our heads.

The husband, who was actually ready to leave, just shook his head. “Yeah, well, some of us have to go back to work.”

Thank goodness I’m not one of us, I remember thinking, as the airport came into view. Way off in the distance, Diamond Head. That’s when I heard my mother say, “You know I dropped my next trip, that Phoenix trip.”

“Me, too! I dropped my horrid twenty-hour, three-day.”

That’s just one of the amazing things about my job, flexibility. We can pretty much work whenever we want, as long as there’s a trip available to pick up, or someone willing to take our trip, which is usually not a problem when based in New York, the most junior base in the system.

I turned all the way around in my seat and looked at the woman who had a twinkle in her eye. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

My mother smiled real big and shrugged. “Maybe.”

The husband just shook his head again. “You ladies better make up your mind! We’re almost there.”

As my mother flipped open her cell phone and started dialing the airline to check the passenger loads home on Wednesday, I dialed the Marriott hotel in Waikiki to see if they offered a crew discount.

Yet another amazing thing about the job. We actually get cheap rates at many hotels, as well as discounts on car rentals.

“The flight home is open,” my mother said, snapping her phone shut.

I spun around in my seat. “And they’ve got a room available….and it’s an ocean view! If we split it-“

“Book it! Just book it! What with the economy the way it is, who knows if we’ll ever get back!”

Nervously I glanced at the husband. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Pointing the car in the direction of the airport exit, he said, “Have fun.”

And like that we booked the room, a room with a fantastic ocean view, a comfy room in a nice hotel in Hawaii located directly across the street from the famous Waikiki beach. We (my mother, my son, and I) had a fantastic time doing…not much, other than walking around, sitting on the beach, and eating a lot of sushi. Which brings me to the point of this post. There is one, I promise.

The second best thing about being a flight attendant, besides travel, is…well…I can’t decide! Seriously, there are way too many wonderful things to choose from – days off, flexibility, hotel discounts, the ability to change travel plans at the last minute, etc. And so I ask you, fellow flight attendants, besides travel, what do you love most about being a flight attendant?

%Gallery-33601%

Galley Gossip: Another amazing flight attendant tip – Hopstop.com

by Heather Poole on

I’ve learned some pretty amazing things from flight attendants, like how to mask the horrible lavatory smell with a single packet of coffee and how to make coffee taste better by using a drop of club soda and an extra coffee bag in the pot. All of these amazing tips lead me to believe that flight attendants are some of the most creative and knowledgeable people in the world. Seriously, you wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve learned in the galley.

On my last trip from New York to Los Angeles, I was instructed on how to choose the perfect eggplant. According to Kim, one of my fellow coworkers, there are “girl” and “boy” eggplants. For real. Because the “boy” eggplants have the least amount of seeds inside, those are the ones you want when you’re making eggplant parmigiana, or an eggplant casserole, which is what I’m going to attempt tonight, thanks to Kim and her Italian recipes.

Each and every time I come into contact with a flight attendant, I learn something new and interesting and unusual. What I learn could be just about anything, really, but whatever it is, that one little nugget of information somehow manages to change my life in some way. Well it happened again. Today.

Today’s amazing flight attendant tip of the day comes from Frank, a Gadling reader who is also a flight attendant for an airline I do not know. He had commented on my post, The best thing about being a flight attendant – Travel! Apparently, travel is the last thing Frank wants to do on his day off. In fact, the best thing about being a flight attendant for Frank are the days off, not traveling on the days off. I have to admit, I like my days off almost as much as I enjoy traveling, which is why being a flight attendant is the perfect job for me. One of the main reasons Frank loves his days off so much is because he lives in one of the most exciting cities in the world, New York. You see when you live in New York City, there’s really no need to travel – that often, not when you have it all at your finger tips, or a short drive away.

But if you are a New Yorker, or are traveling to New York, or any other big city for that matter, and you do decide to venture out, you’re probably going to take public transportation, which isn’t always the easiest thing in the world to figure out, especially in a fast paced city like Manhattan. If you do find yourself lost in an unfamiliar place, do what Frank does and go to Hopstop.com.

Here’s what Frank had to say about the website…

Passing some travel knowledge on to you, Heather. HOPSTOP.COM. Not sure how often you layover in NYC, but this site will be of great benefit to anyone who travels around the city via public transportation. It’s just like MAPQUEST, except it gives you step by step instructions on how to get to your destination (within the city) on “public transportation.” it’s awesome, I never get lost in the city! I take my step by step instructions with me from home (you, your layover hotel) and get to my destination without paying for an expensive cab. What’s great, the site has several other cities. SFO, LAX, ORD, BOS. I use it all the time in SFO.

enjoy, travel safe!

Frank

I have to tell you, Frank, this bit of information could not have come at a better time. I’m an LA commuter based in New York with a two year old son at home, which means for the last two years whenever I’ve had to go to work, I fly in and out of town fairly quickly, working back and forth across the country as many times as possible in as few of days as possible, leaving me little time to take the train from Forest Hills, Queens, where my crash-pad is located, to Manhattan. Now I love the city, yet I haven’t really had the opportunity to experience it the way I used to in years – three years to be precise. Which is why I miss it so much. Why I long for it whenever I find myself spending the night in Queens. Why I dream about taking the subway in and wandering around aimlessly. It doesn’t matter where I go, as long as I go.

Now that my son is a little older, making it easier for the husband to take care of him when I’m out of town, I find myself wanting to slow down a bit and spend a little more time taking advantage of a place that has so much to offer. The first thing I want to do is go to Chinatown for soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai, followed by a walk around Central Park, a Broadway show at night, and maybe even an evening stroll around the village. Hey, a flight attendant can dream, can’t she? Though I do know my way around the city, it has been awhile, so Hopstop.com will definitely come in handy when the time comes. Thanks again for the tip, Frank!

Galley Gossip: Ivana Trump harasses two little kids on a flight

by Heather Poole on

Ivana, Ivana, Ivana, you do not – I repeat – you do NOT call a child a barbarian. Out loud. On a flight. Oh sure, you can think it, we’re all probably thinking it, but to outright say it….I don’t think so. Not a good idea.

Now I probably would not have believed this story about a passenger who is suing Ivana Trump for calling his two adorable children names – ages 3 and 18 months – or the fact that Ivana has filed her own counter suit against the passenger who created those little barbarians. But the fact that the word barbarian was used to describe two little children, well…that is just so so wrong. Which only means it has to be true!

I mean who else but Ivana would use such a word? Brat. Fine. Terror. Okay. Monster. Sure. But barbarian? That’s a bit much, don’t you think? Which is exactly why I believe this outlandish story. And why I’ll be using the word barbarian as often as I can throughout this post. And on my flights. But only to myself. And maybe the crew. Possibly you. But that’s it.
So anyway, after the children were told to shut up – oh yeah, that’s what Ivana apparently said – the parents asked the flight attendant to get the Captain.
The Captain?
Ummm….okay.

Man oh man, I would have loved to have seen how the Captain handled that little situation. I wonder what our own pilot, Kent, would have done?

Now when I imagine a barbarian passenger, I do not think of two little kids, no matter how terrible they may have acted at 35,000 feet. Oh no. The thought that comes to my mind is a visual of the guy who was sitting in the row behind and across the aisle from me on my flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles last Wednesday. Now that, dear readers, was a barbarian.

He, the barbarian who was big and bald with one of those weird little hair patches sprouting off his chin, had the audacity to ring his call light and yell at the teeny tiny flight attendant for ten minutes about the thirty minute delay we took on the ground. This took place after he had already called the airline while we were on the ground to find out why, EXACTLY, we were still on the ground.

What I wanted to know was why, EXACTLY, he was using his cell phone when were on the tarmac and about to takeoff. And what, EXACTLY, he was trying to prove by pushing his weight, all 250 pounds of it, around.

Of course ripping the airline a new one wasn’t enough. He then went on to complain to the man wearing the dark blue designer jeans sitting beside me about the thirty minute delay. On and on the barbarian went as Mr. trendy nodded in agreement. When he finally stopped, it was only because he had another delay on another airline to complain about, and so on, and so on, until it was finally our turn to grab our things and deplane the aircraft.

“I (BLEEPING) hate this airline,” he growled, as he stepped aside to allow his nine year-old daughter into the aisle.

Barbarians, I tell you, they’re (BLEEPING) everywhere.

You think she’s bad? Get a load of what these women did!