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Entry 3

Posted Friday, Dec. 28, 2001, at 11:10 AM ET

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I've always liked flying Christmas. The loads are light on the airplane, so fewer passengers to serve, and the airports are quiet and calm. Most people are in good spirits and friendly. They all wish each other Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and look at me pityingly because I have to work on this day rather than be with my family. This Christmas was pretty much the same. I was actually surprised at how many people were actually on the flights to and from Los Angeles. Fortunately, I was working in the first-class galley for the duration of this trip, so I could kind of hide in the galley rather than work the aisle. And I got a little extra pay, on top of my holiday pay, for being "galley slave," which is nice. Then I can avoid the "Phase 3" of the flight (Phase 1, boarding and departure; Phase 2, the service; Phase 3, go out in the aisle and schmooze; and Phase 4, pre-landing and arrival). These are terms quickly forgotten after training, except, of course, when a flight attendant is being particularly chatty, then we make fun of their proclivity for "Phase 3-ing."

In fact, my only real contact with a passenger was before takeoff when I was walking through the aisle checking seatbelts. The FAA and most airlines allow children, if they are under 2, to ride on someone's lap rather than in a seat, which most of us flight attendants disagree strongly with. It's just not safe. At the speeds we go, no one could hold onto their child if we had to stop short or if something happened. In fact, they've interviewed parents after accidents who have said there was no way they could've held onto their children. So, this mother is in the back of the plane holding her baby in her lap with an empty seat next to her and a car seat nicely strapped in. I tried to explain to her, since she did have a seat for the baby, how much safer it would be to put the child in the car seat rather than hold her for takeoff. She stared at me blankly and told me that it was OK, the baby was under 2. I tried to explain it to her again, in vain. I mean what does it take—a demonstration of what could happen to her baby if we had an aborted takeoff or hit an air pocket in the sky? It seems like it's the same mothers who say, "I would never let my baby ride in a car without a car seat." Explain that logic to me. I think my biggest pet peeve, though, are the parents who buy two first-class seats and have their baby on their lap, rather than spring for three coach seats. Unbelievable. So, I gave up on this woman and let another flight attendant try to convince her, also in vain. Later, I saw her again, when we were in the air, letting her baby stand in the aisle. She's sitting safely in her seat, strapped in, while her baby's dangling in the aisle, during turbulence, when the seatbelt sign is on. Finally, in a fit of impatience, I said to her, "I don't know if you care about your baby, but I do, and as long as that seatbelt sign is on your baby needs to be in a seat with her seatbelt fastened." So she put the baby back on her lap, still staring at me, but now with a hint of indignation. I walked away. Later, one of the flight attendants working the back of the plane told me this woman asked for my name, I guess to try and get me in trouble—for what, I don't know. This is definitely an issue my airline would back me up on. So this flight attendant, covering for me, told her my name was Linda. The woman should have asked me herself. I would have gladly told her my first name, my employee number, and the name of my supervisor. But it was fine. Until another flight attendant came up to me to tell me this same woman asked her my name. She told her Cindy. Oh well. I guess she'll have difficulty tracking me down. So much for my Phase 3.

diary
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Entry 3

Posted Friday, Dec. 28, 2001, at 11:10 AM ET
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Jodi Teitelman has worked as a flight attendant with a major carrier since October of 1997.
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