The Joys of the Job

This morning I returned from a not-so-fun turnaround to a location that I won't mention. Needless to say, I don't look forward to going back. I've come to the realization that passengers will complain about anything, and everything.

"I want more milk in my coffee", after I've dumped the entire milk jug into their cup.

While serving tea, both hands full... "No, give me whiskey."

"I NEED another beer! I'm so thirsty!" While taking my seat for landing.

"The PA is too loud, it woke me up." Yes sir, that's the point. Now give me your blankets and headsets.

"If I put my seatbelt on my kid, he'll wake up." We are landing, even the crew aren't exempt from wearing seatbelts. The fact that you'd even compromise your child's safety to avoid hearing them cry is disgusting.

"It's too bumpy." I apologize, I'll tell the sky to tone down the turbulence.

In 2 hours and 10 minutes, the cabin becomes even more disastrous than my mess of a bedroom. Cups are thrown in the aisles, garbage strewn everywhere... a mess far beyond our capabilities of cleaning in the time given. I pity the cleaners as they step on board our war zone of a plane. Last night we had a crew member on her first supy flight. I'd spent the entire bus ride reassuring her that it was easy and that she'd do just fine, but by the end of the first sector I regretted doing so. They generally choose the worst of flights to give you a scary first impression of your new career. We landed at 6 am and I couldn't wait to get home, throw in a load of laundry and crawl into my bed to get in a bit of pre-sleep Facebook time. I entered my apartment to find that I had no power. The lights were on, but nothing else worked. No internet, no phone, no TV, no fridge, no washing machine. Grumpiness overcame me as I marched down to reception in my pajamas and demanded that they call an electrician immediately. I'm usually patient and calm, but at 7 in the morning after a terrible flight, it was no easy task. The food in my fridge wouldn't survive more than a few hours in the heat. The security guard came upstairs, flicked a switch on the breaker, and hoped that it would solve the issue. No such luck. "I'll call an electrician", he sighed, irritated that I was causing extra work. I crawled into bed, hoping that the doorbell still worked and that I'd shortly be woken up by an electrician. I was impressed when only 20 minutes after I'd complained, a man showed up at my door, did his electrician thing, and restored my power. Okay, so maybe I'd overreacted by assuming that my world was coming to an end due to the lack of power in my apartment. In my defense, it's 2010 and I live in a city that prides itself on being modern, innovative, and high tech... the least I could ask for is power in my own apartment. Content with my working internet, I headed to sleep away the day. Just another day in my sometimes frustrating life.

What I could use more than anything right now, is a nice long vacation in my beautiful, friendly, happy home country.