#flyerdiaries

[uedoahlex]

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Acro Doubles Class 💟 Always wanted to be a base but in my case I cannot lift anybody in the room. 😂 So, okay - I'll fly for them! Hahaha. Base: @mylatsantiago Spotter: @amayagonzalez_ Teacher: @kayleenortiz @polecatsmanila #moveallways #acroyoga #acrodoubles #flyerdiaries #polekittendiaries (at Polecats)

[flyerdiaries]

The Beginning of a Journey

Flight attendants are iron women. We taste the hardship from the very beginning of our journey, the recruitment. We went through a long process of recruitment. It really is survival of the fittest.

Appearance check, medical tests, interviews, group discussions, you name it.

We were prepared to face the difficult working situation, the sky. Because up there, we have a very limited resources. We have to be a creative problem solver. We have to be everything at once; a doctor, a fireman, a nanny, a psychologist, a janitor, a waitress, a friend. We have to be able to save your ass in 90 seconds. Well, not just your ass, but also the other 150+ ass(es).

In my company, before we get trained to be all of those things, we got the jungle survival training. We got dropped in a remote area with the navy. We were taught how to read compass, how to make food from your surroundings, how to make basic survival needs out of a very limited tool, how to build shelter, everything that’s basic need on a very minimum resources. We had to be tough to pass, we had to deal with the ‘real’ person of our team members, we took care of each other, we learned what a team should mean, how a team should work.

Sounds like a summer camp? Yeah, but this one is on another level.

Some cracked, some learned, some other had fun.

Ah, human. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?

After the jungle survival, we started the ground training. Basically everything you need to know on becoming a flight attendant; food and beverages, etiquette, aviation knowledge, safety procedures, and many more. All of these things must be stuffed in your head in 2 months.

Tell you what, it tastes more bitter than college. If your head feels like a time bomb, then you’re doing the training well.

But all of those knowledge you got is just not enough to face the reality (or semi-reality), in my company it’s called the flight trainings. You still had that ‘trainee’ badge. Nobody knows your name because you are not allowed to put your name plate just yet. So, everyone calls you “Miss Trainee” and everybody expects you to know everything because you just finished the ground training and you already wearing the uniform so everyone expects you to act like the real flight attendant, not like a trainee. No pressure, huh?

But even you got the highest grade in ground training, when you step into that plane, everything blacks out.

An airplane is like a mighty jungle. It is big with a lot of tiny little details. And as a flight attendant, the airplane is your home. You have to know every inch of it, so you can be a good host for your guests. As a little “Miss Trainee”, you found yourself lost in the jungle. We had one mentor, a senior flight attendant, to guide us. By guiding I mean asking questions about everything and ready to cut you in half when you are doing anything wrong.

Yep! It’s the lion for little Miss Trainee who got lost in the mighty jungle.

But they’re playing the tough love, anyways. We know the drill, you have to perform under pressure. Because when you are no longer little Miss Trainee, it’s a dog eat dog world out there. You have to deal with your fellow flight attendants who come from different backgrounds, who has different minds; great minds, weird minds. Not to mention your seniors, who sometimes don’t think you are their peer. And the real deal is facing the passengers, whom I’d like to define as an extraterrestrial human race, given their complicated complexity.

But the process are designed well by the company. Different company, different culture, different trainings. We have to get through all of these things to become a professional flight attendant.

Or at least that’s what we think when we were little Miss Trainee. So naive, so idealistic, so principal.

So cliche.