GMXam
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If you are also a frequent flyer from/to the US to/from South America or Europe, you've probably seen this happen and thought nothing of it (like me). I've seen it a couple of times with diet coke and tomato juice and just hoped they don't run out of water, too, before they get to me.
This is from the latest podcast (which is actually an archived podcast from May 2015) of This American Life. Hope you find it interesting.
Excerpt from their website below (link to the full transcript here and the podcast here):
" Ira Glass
Jill's been a flight attendant for years, does long flights to Europe and South America, where they're on the plane for 10 hours or more. And it's such close quarters, and customers can be so stressed out and get testy, and she and her co-workers, of course, always have to seem calm and courteous. They need to totally control the cabin.
Jill
And at the same time give off this illusion of being servants.
Ira Glass
Right.
Jill
When in reality, we're in control.
Ira Glass
It's stressful, she says. And it's easy for them to get on each other's nerves, like with this flight attendant who was Jill's nemesis for a while.
Jill
She just talked a lot. I think that's what bothered me a lot. So during our downtime, going into the galley, sort of getting away from people, it would just be incessant talking. And it drove me nuts. And I think my silence would drive her nuts. So we didn't get along.
Ira Glass
Now, of course, when flight attendants snipe at each other, if they're in the middle of the aisle with the beverage cart--
Jill
We have to do it in a way that the passengers don't know what's happening. For example, she would say, can you get me some more Cokes from the galley? And I would say, we're out of Cokes.
And to the passengers next to us, that sounds completely normal. But she knows, and I know, that we're not out of Cokes. And she's stuck behind the beverage cart. She physically cannot get there and get them for herself. And so it is--
Ira Glass
It's war.
Jill
It's war. It's this tiny, little symbol of hostility wrapped in this little sentence about Coca-Cola. She might try, like, are you sure we're out of Cokes? Because I saw some back there. And I would say, no, we're out. She'd be powerless.
If we have to do another beverage service, she might take all the red wine. And so I have to ask her every time for a bottle of red wine. And I have to ask her for something every time I need it. It's these little, tiny things that you would never know.
Ira Glass
And then about 2, 2 and 1/2 hours into these overnight flights, Jill says, it'll be time for a sleep break. Some planes have special seats curtained off or hidden behind doors in special compartments, or up secret flights of stairs in certain planes, there are crew bunks above the overhead bins. Who knew?
Jill
It's a very tiny, little space, literally above the overhead bins.
Ira Glass
So Jill would sometimes have to go to sleep with her enemy, with the nemesis. And she says that to function on the rest of the flight, they really do need to sleep, no kidding. And so they both know its truce. "
This is from the latest podcast (which is actually an archived podcast from May 2015) of This American Life. Hope you find it interesting.
Excerpt from their website below (link to the full transcript here and the podcast here):
" Ira Glass
Jill's been a flight attendant for years, does long flights to Europe and South America, where they're on the plane for 10 hours or more. And it's such close quarters, and customers can be so stressed out and get testy, and she and her co-workers, of course, always have to seem calm and courteous. They need to totally control the cabin.
Jill
And at the same time give off this illusion of being servants.
Ira Glass
Right.
Jill
When in reality, we're in control.
Ira Glass
It's stressful, she says. And it's easy for them to get on each other's nerves, like with this flight attendant who was Jill's nemesis for a while.
Jill
She just talked a lot. I think that's what bothered me a lot. So during our downtime, going into the galley, sort of getting away from people, it would just be incessant talking. And it drove me nuts. And I think my silence would drive her nuts. So we didn't get along.
Ira Glass
Now, of course, when flight attendants snipe at each other, if they're in the middle of the aisle with the beverage cart--
Jill
We have to do it in a way that the passengers don't know what's happening. For example, she would say, can you get me some more Cokes from the galley? And I would say, we're out of Cokes.
And to the passengers next to us, that sounds completely normal. But she knows, and I know, that we're not out of Cokes. And she's stuck behind the beverage cart. She physically cannot get there and get them for herself. And so it is--
Ira Glass
It's war.
Jill
It's war. It's this tiny, little symbol of hostility wrapped in this little sentence about Coca-Cola. She might try, like, are you sure we're out of Cokes? Because I saw some back there. And I would say, no, we're out. She'd be powerless.
If we have to do another beverage service, she might take all the red wine. And so I have to ask her every time for a bottle of red wine. And I have to ask her for something every time I need it. It's these little, tiny things that you would never know.
Ira Glass
And then about 2, 2 and 1/2 hours into these overnight flights, Jill says, it'll be time for a sleep break. Some planes have special seats curtained off or hidden behind doors in special compartments, or up secret flights of stairs in certain planes, there are crew bunks above the overhead bins. Who knew?
Jill
It's a very tiny, little space, literally above the overhead bins.
Ira Glass
So Jill would sometimes have to go to sleep with her enemy, with the nemesis. And she says that to function on the rest of the flight, they really do need to sleep, no kidding. And so they both know its truce. "
