Page 48 - Grasp English B2 (Student Book)

4 Departures

For many people,
being a flight attendant is a
dream job. They travel
the world and work at the same
time, but is it really a ‘cool job’?
Here is a short text about the
experiences of
a flight attendant. Although many people may think that the worst part of being a flight
attendant is dealing with turbulence, it’s actually not as common as
people think, especially nowadays with the advances in technology. To
be honest, the worst thing for me is the jet lag – and not just because of leaving a country in one
time zone and landing in another. It’s also the fact that your working hours are quite irregular, so
you might have to work a long shift on an overnight flight, which means trying to get some sleep
the day before and then arriving confused about what day it is. And I rarely work on domestic
flights, so I’ll often be jumping across time zones throughout the week.

Whilst it’s true that we’re at our busiest during school holidays, we still have a lot of flights at off-
peak times as airfares are often much cheaper when kids are at school. Plus it’s certainly easier
to walk up and down the aisle during these flights when there aren’t children racing up and
down. I remember one kid who almost drove me crazy on a long flight by running up and down
the aisle for hours. He must have eaten five or six candy bars before getting on board. Some kids
are particularly difficult for us, especially the ones that travel with their best friends or siblings.
Fortunately, most children fly with their parents and they always help us when their kids push the
limits.

Generally, the passengers are always incredibly friendly and very thankful for their complimentary
drinks and nuts. I did have one awkward passenger, though. A few years back, before we started
using e-tickets, there was a businessman who had lost his boarding card and couldn’t remember
his seat number. He was so worried that he was going to miss his flight – and therefore miss his
meeting – that he started shouting and blaming everyone else. He shouldn’t have been so
aggressive, but business people usually lose their temper quickly when there is a risk of missing their
flight. In the end, we managed to calm him down, and he was able to take the trip, but we had
to ask him to wait until everyone else had boarded.
Thankfully, I don’t have to do shifts at the check-in desk. It’s challenging when people come
along, put their suitcase on the scales, and you see the weight going far over what they should
have. The excess baggage fees are high, but then I guess people should be more responsible
when they’re packing. I can appreciate it’s hard though if you’re on holiday and come home
with lots of souvenirs and gifts for family and friends. But then my motto is to collect experiences,
not things, and I always try to travel as light as possible.

Before 1930,
only men used to be
flight attendants.

46