I certainly wasn’t worrying about our operations manual, though I knew, of course, that flight attendants caught sleeping on duty could lose their wings. But I wasn’t on duty, not in the strict sense. What’s more, I was exhibiting initiative and adaptability, some of those attributes most cherished by Northwest Airlines.

Image Credit... Alain Pilon

It was a sound sleep. Suddenly I woke to a voice on the public address system: “Morning, folks. This is your captain speaking. We’re No. 4 for takeoff, up near the end of the runway. So if you’ll just sit back and relax, we’ll be taking off in a few minutes. The flight attendants will do the best they can for you this morning, even though they are one short in the second cabin.”

I opened my eyes and gasped. The passengers and crew had boarded, and no one had checked my overhead bunk. If only someone had tried to store a coat up there or grab a blanket! I should have been down on the cabin floor, on duty and with my one-inch grosgrain ribbon tying my hair in place, my gold logo centered on the front of my hat. Instead, I was up on that rack, breaking into a cold sweat.

If I ever needed that Northwest Airlines initiative, it was then. I poked my head out and down. The cabin was packed with businessmen reading the financial papers. I hitched up my skirt  hemmed precisely one and three-quarter inches above the knee  and lowered a leg. This snagged the attention of the last 10 rows, as well as my pantyhose. Then I lowered my other leg. By this time, the rows in front had turned around and were watching too. Luckily, no one laughed.

I swung down and planted my navy blue pump half on a passenger’s arm rest and half on his pinstriped leg. My hat was in the overhead rack, I told him, and I had been digging around for a long time trying to find it. I pointed out that I had to wear my hat, or I would be fired.