Ford and I were getting a little crazy at home in Miami. We had both been home for a while, and the weather wasn’t good, so we decided to go somewhere yesterday morning.
Flying from Miami to Cancun on a 767 …
Four hours later we were on a flight to Cancun. I am quite proud that I managed to get both confirmed updates on the same day on American Airlines and I also managed to use a confirmed Hyatt suite upgrade to get a suite. Not bad for the same day of travel, huh?
Anyway, I can’t help talking briefly about the flight attendant we had from Miami to Cancun, who was … cheeky AF (and I’m not talking about Air France).
The 82-minute flight from Miami to Cancun was operated by a Boeing 767, so we got updates to the flat beds, which is nice enough. In business class, the service is limited to drinks and a snack basket, so about 30 minutes after take-off, the flight attendant entered the cabin with a snack basket.
“Yes girl”
The flight attendant stopped at the seat next to Ford and diagonally in front of mine, and the passenger basically proceeded to take every single object from the snack basket, look at the label, etc., then put it back.
The flight attendant’s answer?
“Yes girl.”
At first I was confused by who was speaking, but then it became quite clear.
“Yes, girl, touch everything.”
“Yes girl, touch every last one.”
“Yes girl, look what’s in the trash.”
“Yes girl, touch the last thing in the trash.”
A couple of clarification points:
- The passenger was a middle-aged woman (therefore not a girl / girl)
- The flight attendant was not an impertinent gay who was watching too much RuPaul’s Drag Race, but a middle-aged woman (maybe she still looks too much at RuPaul’s Drag Race?)
“I don’t have time to get sick”
The next time the flight attendant crossed the cabin with a snack basket, he proclaimed a part of the cabin:
“I have children at home and I don’t have time to get sick. Everyone is sick right now, and I simply don’t have time to do it. If you have questions about the snack basket you ask me, I know what’s in there, you don’t have to touch all “.
At this point the “girl” realized that he was referring to her, and apologized to the flight attendant for removing everything from the basket.
I actually liked the flight attendant, though!
Here’s the thing: the actions of the flight attendant are unquestionably unprofessional. I can’t imagine mocking an adult passenger and repeatedly calling him “girl”.
But I actually loved this flight attendant with regards to American Airlines flight attendants. She cared and seemed to appreciate his work, but otherwise he was really friendly. Although it was a short flight, it offered multiple refills of drinks and was also proactive about it – “what else can I get you to drink?” He also offered pre-departure drinks of choice.
She was smiling, she was polite (mostly) and she was a great personality. Hell, maybe the most impressive thing is that he said “yes girl” to a passenger five times, and the passenger didn’t hold it against him.
As outrageously unprofessional as this may be, I will take her on any day to the indifferent flight attendants I had on a flight from Dallas to Hong Kong that showed no personality.