After preflighting many a fire extinguisher, yelling commands at the top of our lungs, and evacuating our classmates in the dark with cabins filled with smoke in under 90 seconds....we received our long awaited silver wings last Friday, March 1st. I've never wanted anything so bad in my life, and am thankful that my friends were also willing to do whatever it takes. It helped to have a group of people in it together, who were willing to study long hours, pay attention in class, and collaborate on our drills to help each other through. All for one and one for all!
These girls helped me through it! It helps that we were all transferred to New York City together, and that New York City was
none of our first choices. We had a few days of IOE (in-flight operating experience) all over the United States then we were set free in the friendly skies on our own!
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| Tenee, Kim, me, Paige, Brittany. |
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| Brenda and Kim. Purple day! |
After graduation we were able to spend 24 hours at home, so I flew back to Nashville, unpacked, did some laundry and repacked. I saw my family for just a short while and before I knew it I was boarding the CRJ to the Big Apple. I was able to pack 60 pounds in my suitcase with no questions asked (a first). I was able to pass security lines at BNA with great ease. And a ticket in first class.....my crew ID was golden. It will be awhile before I will take that for granted.
Upon descent we passed my favorite leading lady, the Statue of Liberty, and I remembered the New York skyline all too well. I met up with Paige and we took our bags to the hotel where we were staying for 3 nights-on the company's bill. 3 nights to find a place to live and get settled in a brand new city?! Much less, the most populated city per square foot in the United States? We weren't sure how it would pan out but with just our suitcases, our uniforms, and bright shiny smiles on our faces we set out to face the challenge.
Our base tour was held Sunday afternoon at 4pm, and didn't finish until around 8pm. We toured JFK and LGA. Crew rooms, liquor deposits, form deposits, crew cafeterias, and luggage rooms were all covered in our tour. All walking around the airport in our navy blue polyester uniforms with shiny new wings gave us a sense of confidence, a sense of belonging, even though we all felt like fish out of water.
A fellow flight attendant and tour guide bid us farewell around 8 pm that night, and we were set out with 5 days off and a mission: to find a place to rest our heads at night and leave our permanently packed suitcases while in the city. Monday came with gusto and we were online and on our phones all day trying to find somewhere to accommodate 5 friendly flight attendants with extremely strange schedules. Nothing. Tuesday was okay with a few bites, we went to look at one apartment that was inconveniently in a sketchy part of town. Wednesday we were starting to panic and began to set out on foot to the area of Kew Gardens in Queens...the supposed flight attendant and pilot capital of NYC. We knocked on a few doors, chased down a few fellow flight attendants and toured a few crashpads.
Crashpads are a funny thing, and for those who aren't in the airline business are not even aware they exist. A crashpad is a house, owned or run by one person who charges a small monthly or weekly rent fee for airline employees. In each room are bunk beds stacked high all along the walls...could be 6, could be 20. There could be a dresser or cubby for all your things, and if you're lucky...a closet. Some are nicer than others, some are simply a place to lay your head while you're here for 8 hours waiting for your next flight. Common spaces are shared...such as the living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry. Rules are strict and you must be quiet coming and going. Some even go as far as to say that if you are there more than 10 or 12 days a month, you cannot live there.
We looked at a pretty nice crashpad run by a Delta flight attendant that afternoon, then, by some grace of God, we looked at a nearby actual apartment and we all pretty much fell on the floor as soon as we walked in. The hardwood floors were beautiful, the walls freshly painted, the kitchen appliances were already installed, there were two huge rooms, a living room and a bathroom...and four fairly decent sized closet for New York City standards. We tried to keep our cool while the landlord was showing it to us but we could barely hold it in. Two of my friends were willing to sign a one year lease so as soon as we got out to the sidewalk we huddled together and gave a quick girly squeal. It was decently priced, would be our own personal space, and the location between JFK and Laguardia couldn't be more perfect.
We applied for the apartment 20 minutes later and went for a beer at the local bar.
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| Shocked after seeing the apartment. |
We waited around Thursday for the landlord to call us....as we chewed at our fingernails and ate every piece of chocolate in sight waiting in anticipation. Friday morning he called and said we got the apartment and for them to come sign the lease! We were so excited!!!! We signed checks, and were at our new home in Kew Gardens by 2:30 that afternoon. Our first night was interesting as we didn't have towels, cups, sheets or a bed. I was smart and brought a roll of toilet paper from the hotel so at least we had that covered - after all - this isn't my first rodeo. We piled our clothes up as high as we could and slept the first night on the floor under our company issued all weather coats and scarves. The next day we wandered around the neighborhood, tried to find a decently priced mattress (with no luck) and were saved by Uncle Ducky (Brittany's uncle who lives in New York City) who took us to Wal-Mart in Jersey. There we were able to get decently priced air mattresses, a few cleaning supplies and some groceries to get us started. When I say bare minimum....I mean...
bare minimum.
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| Sleeping on the floor the first night...don't judge! |
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| Date night with Uncle Ducky for sushi! |
The next day we all began work! We had to learn how to preference for trips, press our uniforms, and pack like pros. I was lucky and had a trip my first day on the job. It was a 4 day with 3 nights spent in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. I was pleased as punch since it gave me a significant amount of time as well as time away from base in which I was being paid per diem.
I met my crew at the gate we were departing from at the one and only LGA. They seemed pretty cool and totally nice...especially for it to be my first trip. The captain assured me that anything I needed or any questions I had...I could ask. We spent those four days flying continuously between Raleigh, New York and DC. I believe there was a turn to Detroit tucked in there somewhere but I'm not exactly sure when it happened. I'm still not even really sure what today is.
I'm gonna be honest...my first flight out was a disaster! I forgot to shut the cockpit door before the passenger entry door, my safety demo was a complete mess, I inverted the zones on the weight and balance form, and I spilled water on an executive platinum member. You
never spill
anything on an executive platinum. Luckily I learned from my mistakes and the second time out was much better! I was flying one of our smaller jets, so I was the only flight attendant on board. On our next step up aircraft there are two flight attendants on board...but I almost prefer to be by myself. It made me nervous at first, but it's nice not having to work with someone or answer to anyone else....or have to gossip with someone else in the galley. I can do it my way, at my own pace, and it's great.
Passengers are funny, crazy, and blissfully insane. If I have just made an announcements about keeping your seatbelt on....then WHY on this earth would you take it off? What is the deal that people can't leave their electronic devices for 10 minutes while we take off into the wild blue yonder. Do people not realize that if it is left on it could interfere with air traffic control and cause you to die?!!? Why do people feel the need to push their flight attendant "I need you" button just to ask you to throw away their trash? No, you cannot fit your giant Louis Vuitton suitcase into our tiny jets' overhead bins.
One of my favorite things thats happened was this past Sunday evening and it was my first trip to Montreal. Montreal is English and French speaking, so as people boarded the plane I gave them my friendliest "Hello! Bonjour!" to see what people responded to. That way, I knew when I served them drinks I would know whether they spoke English or French. Surprisingly, most of the cabin spoke French so I put that fact in my back pocket to save for later. I did compliance checks, my safety demo, close the passenger entry door and began a couple of PA's. No one watches the safety demo and everyone is still too into their cell phones at this point. I faced the cabin (as all good flight attendants do during PA's) and gave it my best shot.............in French. As soon as I blurted out: "Bonjour! Bienvenue à bord de notre vol aujourd'hui à Montréal. Je m'appelle Maggie et je parle un peu de français ... mais il faut être patient. Aujourd'hui le temps de vol est......" Everyone who was French speaking looked either up or craned their necks into the aisle at the same time and gave me their full attention. Funny how that works. I chuckled out loud over the interphone.
Needless to say the flight was successful and the overnights in Montreal are quickly becoming my favorite. The most comfy bed I've ever slept in (certainly beats an air mattress...) and French speakers everywhere?? You bet!
Flights get easier and easier, although first class passengers still really freak me out. Everything has to be just perfect and a lot of times our flights are so short we don't have a lot of time to make everything perfect! I usually don't bid for first class trips, although if there are only a few options I would rather fly than not...so I'll bid and hope for the best!!
Had our first official day OFF in New York yesterday and I'm happy to say that we spent it getting to know our new city! Can't wait to share!
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| My new home! |
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| Before sunrise over Montreal. |
