I never thought I would work as a Ground Service Agent (GSA) for an Airlines company. I always felt bad for the guys and gals who handled luggage. Every time I traveled I would look out my plane window and see these sullen looking individuals leisurely pacing around, or hectically throwing bags into a cart. It seemed like such miserable work and I never could imagine why anyone would want to subject themselves to all the constant noise, gas fumes, and heavy lifting.

I’m from Alaska, and my wife grew up in Washington state. After our first 3 years of marriage in Coos Bay, Oregon we decided to move closer to family. Alaska was a tough sell because of the horrible weather Hannah experienced during her 3 previous trips there. Flight benefits were my last hope of seeing my beloved family and state on a regular basis. Luckily I was turned down on my first interview for a customer service agent position. I’ve since learned that angry people can be much more exhausting than heavy bags.

During my two and a half years working as a GSA I’ve got to experience some pretty incredible things on and off “the ramp”. I would like to dedicate this blog to the life of a “ramper”, and highlight the remarkable contrast between our work and rest. I think that contrast would be best conveyed through photoshop and the graphic design project. I also plan on conducting interviews of my peers for the Video Story to capture the incredible diversity both in culture and perspective at work. Since I have all the devices necessary, I will source most of the images, and all of the audio and video files myself.

I’ve included some links below from my inspiration file that will likely influence my future blog posts. I look forward to sharing this crazy life style with all of you this semester!

QX Catch-All: A closed facebook page for individuals in my company to post frustrations, shout-outs, recent travels, etc. All work groups are represented so gives a more holistic understanding of airline culture.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1645949455640839/?multi_permalinks=1992640610971720¬if_t=group_highlights¬if_id=1504281147079597

Ramp Lives Matter: A humorous Facebook community from the perspective of ground service agents. Memes and funny pictures aplenty!

https://www.facebook.com/ramplivesmatter/

#Rampagent Instagram: A collection of pictures and videos taken from Ground Service Agents all across the world.

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/rampagent/