So some of the perks of this reserve schedule:

-I can move it around at will to accommodate my life

-I can go a week without flying anywhere and enjoy life at home

The big downside?

I can get called at almost anytime to be gone for an indefinite amount of time.

Like this Sunday night, I got called and told from Sunday night to Thursday I would be sitting reserve not in Ohio but in Charlotte, North Carolina.





I flew out Sunday night with a bag packed for four days and food for like two…hey at least I tried.

Today I was called around noon to tell me I’d be sitting hot reserve in the airport instead. At 2:45 I went to Charlotte-Douglas Airport and found a rocking chair near the piano to hang out until I got called onto a flight around 5.

The flight was going from Charlotte to Des Moines and back.

Having not flown for about a week and a half I was happy to fly. The crew was super nice and I flew as the forward flight attendant serving first class. It’s about 2 hours from Charlotte to Des Moines so basically we board the passengers, serve them drinks and snacks, then hang out till landing taking care of their needs as they arise and making sure everything is running smoothly.

TODAY_______________________________________________________________

I had a very friendly passenger in first class which I originally took as just friendliness, but later had the displeasure of discovering was his form of seduction…or attempt of.

It started out fine with me serving all the customers and delivering a drink to a girl in the back he’d befriended while waiting to board. He was nice and told me he used to work for an airline himself. On one of his bathroom trips he approached me to tell me he wanted my name to write to the company to tell them what a great job I was doing, I was stoked!

Then he started to grab my hand each time I would bring him something, or walk by, or be generally in his area…..which, seeing as he was in the front row, was a lot.

I was uncomfortable after a point, like around the time he came into the galley to “hang out” with me and talk much closer than i would like. But I was in my company uniform trying to do the best job I could and I didn’t know where the line was between friendly service and somehow making him believe I wanted his advances. This wasn’t just some dick hitting on me in a bar, this was a passenger who had paid good money to fly with my company, AND he was a first class passenger. So he had paid a lot.

I was torn.

The other flight attendant, a nice guy I had just met since we’d both been put onto the flight at random, came up to the front and I explained what was happening. Rather than have to confront this tipsy, very forward customer I had the other flight attendant stand near the aisle in the galley and I stood near the door. It worked, but I was on edge as this guy continued to wave and smile and try to start things with me.

Looking back I’m angry I didn’t say anything. I’m mad I didn’t do more. But I also remember the fact that the flight was long and he was in the first row in my eyesight, earshot and path to any other part of the cabin.

I read an article someone posted on facebook earlier this week and it’s what I thought of my whole walk to the hotel shuttle and long after really.

http://driftingthrough.com/2015/11/20/the-thing-all-women-do-that-you-dont-know-about/



If you don’t wanna take the time to open a new tab and read it I understand. I’ll summarize. It’s one woman’s eloquent organization of a bunch of every day experiences we have as women:

-men catcalling

-complimenting

-touching us unbidden

-saying things (that they would never want their wives or daughter to hear) playfully or flirtatiously;

and our answers.

They aren’t the loud “fuck you”s we want to say. Instead we gauge each interaction upon our the level of threat to us.

Threat to:

-our job

-our safety

-our personal space

Sometimes to walk away unscathed we have to use another man to protect us, today I had to use my coworker as a physical barrier between me and this man. Sometimes it’s having to make up a boyfriend to the guy who won’t stop hitting on us at the bar, or saying we’re meeting a guy friend or male relative so they walk away when we really are just sitting alone in a coffee shop. Or the fact that I have to lie about what I do for a living when strangers ask because I don’t want to be fetishized for an exotic and often sexualized career.





These are not made up stories. These happen all the time, this happened to me today.

When I first got this job and told people what I was doing I heard a lot of “oh good, I haven’t seen any hot young flight attendants in awhile”. I may be only 22 and beautiful, but I can also save your life in an emergency. I know more about the plane than you do and I am in charge of your safety. I have the power to remove you from the plane or the ability to make sure you arrive safely and happily at your destination. I typically finish a workday feeling very powerful.

Today I did not.

Currently a hotel room in CLT, destination unkown