All those years spent in college were supposed to land me in a job that would provide "for my family" for the rest of my life. It's my mother's fault that never happened. You see, she sent me to Greece as my high school graduation gift. That was the best thing she ever did for me - and she's done a lot of nice things. But that decision started my life in a different direction. The next 20+ years have been roller coaster ride of experiences that, in my opinion, I have been fortunate enough to call my normal life.
All my friends were going to London and Paris after graduation. I didn't want to so that. I wanted something different - I happened on a trip to Athens and Mykonos. I was going. And I did.
The plane ride over is where my life began to take a different direction. I had never flown commercially until that day. The flight to JFK was uneventful and unmemorable - save the take-off. I LOVED the power of the engines as we were thrown down the runway. But the Tower Air 747 from JFK to Athens was something I never imagined existed. I had seen jumbo jets on the television, but I had never imagined I'd actually fly in one (later even as a crew member). I was more excited about the plane ride than spending 2 weeks in Greece.
One of the cabin crew was a male flight attendant, Jeff, who was a few years older than my 18 1/2 years. He was telling me how they would be in Athens for 2 days before heading back to JFK. He described his life as flying all over the world, lying on beaches, drinking and eating well, parties, and sightseeing. I was hooked - where did I sign up? Sadly, I had to wait until I was 20 to get a job as a flight attendant. I remembered that everyday until I turned 20!
The "via-air" travel bug was firmly planted in my brain. My freshman year of college I found that Piedmont Airlines flew from Roanoke, VA to Pittsburgh, PA for $25. It was a repositioning flight (last flight of the night) - it went empty if necessary because it was needed in PIT the following morning to start its day. I took that flight at least 10 times that first year - I am a proud to say I paid for all the tickets. Sometimes I even took friends along. And I never told any of them I wanted to become a flight attendant...
The summer after my freshman year of college I moved to Anchorage, AK for a while to live with my sister. Once again, the plane ride from Chicago ORD to Anchorage was the highlight of the trip. I was on a new Boeing 767. I was beautiful inside - I was a mere 19 but was amazed at the interior of this aircraft. The flight attendants even took me on a tour inflight. And encouraged me to apply to work there once I was old enough. The entire time I was in Alaska, I couldn't wait for the trip back to the lower 48. I just wanted to fly again.
I managed to move to Salzburg, Austria for my sophomore year of college. It was wonderful - I back-packed and hitch-hiked my way all over Europe. I even managed to live and work in London as a bartender at the Traveller's Club off Pall Mall. I was loving my life - as much as a 20 year-old could - living in London. All the while I knew I was now old enough to become a flight attendant.
I returned state-side and resumed my studies. I couldn't get flying out of my mind - I decided I'd ring a few airlines (this was before the Internet had caught on) and see who was hiring. They all were - damn... Now what? I couldn't focus on school....damn curiosity.
OK, I'll just apply to a couple and see what happens. American, United, Continental, Delta, Piedmont, Pan Am, and TWA were all interested. Oh, shit...now what. I'd interview with the ones I knew - Piedmont, Continental, American, Delta and United. And they were on school days.... Skipping a class or two would be OK, right? So I went to Atlanta for my Delta interview, Chicago for United, Dallas-Ft Worth for American, Winston-Salem for Piedmont, and Houston for Continental. I was offered a training date with Continental for Thanksgiving Day...WHAT? That's in the middle of school. No, I can't. But I did...
Thanksgiving Day flying in first class to Houston didn't suck - and the crew was so excited to have a trainee onboard - in hindsight they saw new meat and instant seniority. The next 8 weeks of Barbie Bootcamp were some of the best times I'd ever had... I'll write that tomorrow.
