Galley Gossip: Gifts for flight attendants (and travelers)

A stun gun, Xanax, travel massager that glows in the dark, ten foot pole for not touching things with, these are just a few of the things my flight attendant friends want for Christmas. What, not your gift-giving style? Okay so perhaps one of these will do….

1. PASSPORT COVER In this day and age you might not want to advertise your country of origin. Not to mention it’s kind of fun dressing up the old passport some of you should be very proud of based on the number of stamps inside. If you’re a passenger, check out the adorable covers at Flushshop.com. Flight attendants will want to go with Modcloth’s Safety Misinformation Passport Wallet. (pictured)

2. BAG TAGS – All those crew bags lined up against the wall in flight operations look alike. No one wants to end up on a layover with clothes we’ve never seen before. A unique bag tag will help. One of the the funniest ones I’ve ever seen read “Baggage Handlers are Hot.” Ya know that bag made it to its final destination! Flight attendant Bailey loves Anne Taintor’s line of sassy, vintage bag tags. (And he’s going to kill me for sharing this with you.)

3. OVEN MITTS – The oven racks are hot, hot, hot! This is why flight attendants no longer have fingerprints. Because I’m always accidentally leaving mine behind on the airplane, I can never have too many pairs. Flight attendant Eric is a fan of Grips. As for me, I like Fred’s Hot Head dog shaped insulating mitt.

4. MINI TRAVEL ROLLER SET – Looking good is important to flight attendants. This is not always easy when our layovers are only eight hours long and we’re scheduled to work ten to fourteen hours a day. But somehow flight attendant Joann always manages to look fabulous and I have a feeling it has something to do with her Conair mini roller set.5. GREEN TRAVEL/REUSABLE TOTES – My friend Melanie can tell domestic flight attendants from international ones by the bags they carry on their layovers – Harrods vs Trader Joe’s. For just $2.99 you can help us show off our travel style with a fun international tote from World Market. Or how about (sending me) a Loot Bag from Anya Hindmarch, creator of the “I’m not a plastic bag” bag.

6. TRAVEL SOUND MACHINE – At the layover hotels, flight attendants are usually assigned one of two rooms – the one across from the elevator or the one next to the ice machine. My friend Cady wouldn’t have been able to survive a Disney Cruise or her last visit with the in-laws without her Brookstone travel sound machine. It’s great at blocking out noise from others.

7. TIFFANY’S AIRPLANE CHARM BRACELET – Because it’s from Tiffany’s! And it’s an airplane. Need I say more?!

8. A FULL FARE TICKET – So we can actually get to where we’re going! The flights are full and flying standby is not always an option anymore. Earlier this year Jet Blue offered a 30 day all-you-can-jet pass for just $599. Something like that would have been amazing for the commuter in your life.

9. VIDEO CAMERA – Documenting travels can be just as fun, if not more fun, than actually traveling! Don’t believe me? Just ask Sodwee, AKA Airboy – or better yet watch one of his videos. I love the Flip because it’s easy to use.

10. iPAD – Staying connected to family, friends is very important. Being able to do a last minute trip trade is just as important! So is watching movies, listening to music, and surfing the web on a layover. That said, nothing in the world would make a flight attendant happier than an iPad. Santa, you listening?!

Check out my 2009 Gift Guide

Galley Gossip: Should airlines restrict how much we pack?

I was reading Grant Martin’s post, Should airlines charge you by your weight? and immediately thought of The Husband, who has recently become obsessed with the weight of my bag. The tote bag. That little black bag that attaches to the big black rolling bag, the one that gets placed in the overhead bin closest to my jumpseat.

Just last week I was on the floor, packing up the old tote bag, getting ready to commute back to work, as The Husband leaned against the wall of our bedroom watching me struggle with the zipper. With all my might I pressed as hard as I could, squishing down the contents inside, so I could just…get…the thing…zipped. There!

The Husband began to shake his head. I must tell you that I really do not like when he shakes his head like that, because when he starts in with all that head shaking business it means that he’s got something to say and I usually don’t care to hear what he has to say, especially in situations like this. Trust me, I’ve heard it a million times already.

“Unbelievable,” he said, and that’s all he said, yet that pretty much said it all, did it not?

“Go away,” I said, because I was just about to start filling up the suitcase, and that, I have to say, can get ugly. Very ugly.

He handed me a stack of magazines I’d left on the dresser, and smirked. “Don’t forget these.”

“Oh thanks” I said, as I unzipped the tote bag. I moved a few things around and proceeded to get a copy of Us, Writer, Budget Travel and Vanity Fair inside. Then I remembered the books! Yes, books, as in more than one, because I only had ten pages left to go in Margo Candela’s latest novel, More Than This, therefore I needed a backup book, so I grabbed a paperback copy of Lolita, a book I’ve been meaning to read for what, maybe ten years now, and somehow managed to get it all inside. With all my might I pressed as hard as I could and tried…to get..the thing….zipped. There, got it! I don’t know how I did it. But I did.

The Husband continued to shake his head. “What are you doing? Why are you taking all that?”

“I need. it.”

“You need it?”

“Yes, I need it. I’m going to be gone for five days. I need it.”

Okay, we’ve been married for five years now, so you’d think by now the guy would know that a flight attendant never leaves home without her reading material. I mean, hello!

As I rolled my empty suitcase out of the closet, I asked “What?” because he was at again, the head was shaking.

“You know the airline would save a lot of money if they fired you.”

“Go away,” I said, and meant it.

So he’s probably right, the airline would save a TON of money if they started putting restrictions on what we pack, even so, I’m not giving up my reading material. No. Freakin. Way. I don’t care how much money it saves the company, not after all I’ve given up already – pay, meals, pay, vacation, pay, you get the picture. I’m taking it all with me. And maybe a little more. Like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for instance, just in case, ya know, I get hungry during a six hour flight. And my Ipod, so I can relax in a dumpy airport layover hotel after a long day at work. And a couple packets of oatmeal, so I can eat before the flight in the morning since we usually leave so early we don’t have time to grab anything. And a couple extra packets of nondairy creamer, because…well..there’s never enough creamer in the hotel room, and this girls gotta have her creamer. And antibacterial hand lotion, in case we have a sniffling passenger or two onboard. And cold medicine, in case the antibacterial hand lotion does not work. Oh and Tums, in case there’s left over food on the airplane and I actually decide to eat it. And water, in case, you know, I get thirsty while I’m gone for five days. And….well…do I really need to go on? The bag gets packed. Full. And The Husband continues to shake his head.