The Treacherous Twenties

When asked what was the most awkward time period of their lives, most people would probably tell you high school, or just their teenage years in general. Why? The sudden growth in height leading to excessive clumsiness as our balance adjusts, the onslaught of hormones, uncertainty of who we are and what we stand for, peer pressure, acne, insecurity. The list goes on and on. Here's the irony: high school wasn't remotely awkward for me. Sure, it had its moments, but they didn't crush my spirit and send me home to cry myself to sleep.

I used to wear crazy earrings every day, and I remember this one girl teasing me about a particularly "out there" pair. I think she went so far as to call them ugly. I recall smiling and responding to her comment by telling her that she looked lovely that day. Eons later at our 5 year class reunion she told me that there was no snarky or mean response that could have crushed her more and she admired me for taking the high road and being "better than her."

I was smart, had good grades, had a fun group of oddball nerd friends and a fantastic (or so I thought) boyfriend who was in college. Life was good. And then, I walked across the stage at Memorial Auditorium in May 2006, and was asked a very impertinent question at my college orientation:

"What do you want to do with your life?"

High school had been easy because I always knew, without a shred of doubt, what was next and exactly how I could meet or exceed a goal. My life was sequestered into a series of tests, class bells, deadlines and weekends. This college business was entirely new because all of a sudden the only real authority figure holding the reins on my destiny was me. Worse— I didn't fully realize this earth-shattering transition. I was still very much a woman-child, without any clue what weight the decision of picking a career would mean. I started out in Graphic Design, since I liked to doodle in the margins of my notebooks and I had gotten some compliments on my artistic ability. You heard me right: I was prepared to pursue a career in something because I liked to doodle. O_o

I quickly realized my classmates' talent for design and migraine-inducing amount of attention paid to detail far surpassed my own and decided to change my major to an avenue I knew I excelled at: writing. I threw myself into journalism headfirst and covered a lot of ground; I became an editor of the student newspapers, and successfully completed 5 professional internships before I was a junior.

Then, out of left field, the economy crashed in 2008 and the prospects of holding a job as a "whipped cream" major plummeted. I remember a Professional Writing teacher having us pretend we had just graduated and were looking for jobs, and I found absolutely nothing in Chattanooga that I was qualified for and paid more than minimum wage. It was definitely a sinking moment of truth; all that work, all that time was for naught unless I wanted to move away or go to grad school for a (only slightly better) shot at success. In retrospect, if I had sucked it up and taken a grueling midnight to 5 am position at a news station, and then parlayed that experience into a journalism position at the paper or a local magazine, I could have made it. But I didn't want "maybe if you work hard it will pay off. But maybe you just wasted 4 years of your life for a useless major".  I wanted my effort to yield plentiful fruit. I wanted security.

This is a central theme in the life of Beth Warren. Security vs. The Unknown. During the course of my treacherous twenties I have swayed between the two like a pendulum. When I found out the dismal prospects of my current major, I went to the local student counseling center and took a career placement test based on my personality and proficiencies. My results were surprising; among the "ideal career" for me was accounting, counseling, writing and nursing.

"Accounting?" I thought ,"really?"

Then I looked at the annual salary of an accountant, as well as the stability of the finance industry and decided it was definitely worth considering. It wasn't easy; in fact I recall a teacher in Intermediate Accounting saying that it was his goal to try to pass as few of us as possible because he wanted to weed out the students who didn't really plan to put in the effort to understand the tricky concepts. I loved it and thrived on the challenge. Unfortunately, as I got out into the working world as a staff accountant, I had a few unpleasant realizations:

a.) The lack of variety in my day to day tasks, unless of course I wanted to go back to school and get my Masters/CPA. At the time, the thought of going abck to school was about as appealing as getting beaten with a dead fish.
b.) After spending 6 years in college, I had never actually left Tennessee and seen the world. I ached for "the great wide yonder," and seeing what was outside of my familiar little bubble.

Security in a career path, while comforting, was not very appealing in lieu of my lack of world experience. Hence, the pendulum swung back again and I applied to the airline industry. The rest, as you know, is history.

Now, almost exactly a year later, I sit with much more experience. I have flown all over the world, seen amazing things, and had my comfort zone blasted into a thousand tiny bits with a combination of jet fuel and enthusiasm. Its been a crazy adventure, and I'm so glad I took the opportunity when it was there. However, I can sense in myself a need for....wait for it....more stability. The next chapter lies ahead and I'm very excited to get to share it with you all soon.
In the mean time, here are some fun throwback pictures from my not-so-awkward high school days and the beginning of my ever-so-awkward college days!

[caption id="attachment_757" align="alignnone" width="604"] Me in college, Fall of 2006 with my little brother, on the day I moved into my new dorms at UTC[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_758" align="alignnone" width="604"] My 2005 prom dress and my "glass slippers"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_759" align="alignnone" width="604"] showing off the kitchen and entryway of the dorm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_760" align="alignnone" width="604"] lounging on the couch[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_761" align="alignnone" width="604"] Me and some highschool friends at Coolidge park one weekend[/caption]

 

 

Probation & Prestige (Charlotte, NC)

Greetings, everybody! Sorry for the lack of posts here lately. I've had a great deal going on, and not just in the great blue yonder. Sometimes it takes a little while to breathe and reboot, and while I missed updating you on my wayfaring shenanigans, I definitely needed the break.

With that said, a great deal has happened since I last told you about the {Greek festival} Belle and I attended here in Charlotte. Rather than try to mash it all together in one post, I'll do several updates this week, in the order they transpired.

First off the list, Belle and I had recurrent training! As I mentioned previously, recurrent training is basically a day-long review of all the emergency procedures, drills, equipment operation, and medical training we completed {back in Phoenix}. Since we only graduated in March, we weren't terribly anxious about passing. What we didn't expect was to meet the lady who has not only been a flight attendant the longest with US Airways, but also of any other airline! Her name is Bette Nash, and she's {somewhat of a celebrity}. She started with Eastern airlines in 1961 and has been flying ever since. In other words, she is the senior mama of all the senior mamas! Back in her day, you were only hired as a flight attendant if you had a nursing degree, were stunningly beautiful, single and under the age of 28. After you were married, or got "old", you had to quit. How times change!

[caption id="attachment_704" align="alignnone" width="500"] Bette when she was my age, way back in the 60's. Picture courtesy of Post-Gazette.[/caption]

She was doing her recurrent training as well ( though she's been doing it so long its a wonder she doesn't just teach it herself!) Even though she's in her 70's (or maybe early 80's), she's still sharp as a whip, spirited and very funny. Belle and I asked to have our pictures taken with her, and she happily obliged. I was such a fan-girl! If I can manage to do anything for 50 years, I'll feel like I'm winning at life.

[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignnone" width="642"] Carmen SanDiego and the famous Ms. Bette Nash[/caption]

A whopping 5 days after our recurrent training was the end of our flight attendant 6 month probationary period. It's hard to imagine half a year has passed since that fateful graduation day, where we counted our lucky stars for making it through 4.5 weeks of training. Now we are finally full fledged, union represented flight attendants! As one senior mama whimsically told me one flight, now we'll basically have to murder someone to get fired. I don't know how true that is, but it was a comforting thought. What I do know is with this job, time flies like nobody's business and its still hard to believe I moved to Charlotte and am jetting all over the world. It's almost exactly a year since I applied to be a flight attendant, thinking it would be fun but I'd probably never hear back about my application.

[caption id="attachment_708" align="alignnone" width="642"] We made it![/caption]

At the probationary meeting, my supervisor let me read the letters from passengers over the months that I received in regard to the good job I was doing. One was from an elderly lady who took her first flight with us, and said I had taken good care of her and calmed her fears. Little things like this are so encouraging. I asked my supervisor for more information about commuting and getting a line, and he seems to think the proposed merger with American Airlines will help a lot with moving up in the ranks. We'll see whether that happens or not!  It was also really fun to see the other flight attendants from our class; we all were delighted to see each other make it to the 6 month mark and prove our mettle in the airline world.

Until next time, catch me if you can!

—Carmen

 

Flight Attendant Pet Peeves Pt. 1

There are several unwritten rules among flight attendants. Most are common sense (ask if anyone you're working with wants leftover meals in first class when passengers don't eat them/ offer to make the captain and first officer coffee in the morning/ the most senior flight attendant gets her first choice of position, etc, etc, etc) but some some are more of a courtesy.

For example, the other week I was commuting from Chattanooga back to Charlotte. I was wearing my badge over civilian clothes when I boarded the tiny, aircondition-less Dash 8. Normally, when the one flight attendant who works the flight sees the badge, she offers to get me a preflight drink (another unwritten courtesy rule among us sisters in the sky). But this gal was a total bitch different. This gal knew the real rules.

She takes one look at my badge, and a long hard look at my flip flops.

"You know you have to wear closed-toe shoes when you non-rev [fly on a company flight as a passenger]," she says, bold as brass.

In the Tennessee/North Carolina summer, the last thing I'd ever put on my feet would be an air-constricting shoe. Except maybe my Toms, but still. I stared at her blankly for about a tenth of a second and said "are you kidding me? In this sauna of a plane?"

"It's the rules," she said, "and please be sure you have your kindle and cell phone turned off once I shut the door."

I can't believe this chick. Probably the biggest unwritten rule among fellow flight attendants is when a flight attendant is off-duty and non-revving on your flight, do not tell her what to do like you would a civilian.  It's disrespectful and creates bad blood in what should be a sacred truce.

"Your shoes have an ankle strap, and are less than 0.5 inches in height, which is also against regulation. How about we let bygones be bygones and live another day?"

She glared at me, opened her mouth, and went back to work. But my flight was ruined. I was so mad that she had the audacity to tell me what to do, as if I had no idea what the rules were. Let me tell you something; nobody follows every single rule every single time. Except where it pertains to safety inflight. And I wasn't seated in an exit row. Show me a flight attendant who doesn't have her own way of doing things now and then which aren't regulation and I'll show you a lifeless cardboard cut-out of a flight attendant from training.

Unless a non-rev opens one of the emergency exits while you're taxiing on the runway because she wanted a nice breeze, or pours hot water over the head of the passenger seated next to her, don't assume she's an idiot. She went through the same training hell to get where you are today, and heard all the same lessons, and has the same manual. Don't insult the intelligence of your fellow flight attendants. Let them sit back, and enjoy the flight.

What are some other pet peeves/unwritten rules for flight attendants?