So You Want To Be A Stewardess

You will always remember your first time

On one of my very first flights, a passenger told me to fuck off.

He - let's just call him Jones - was a complete stranger, by the way. It's not like I'd stolen his money or broken his heart.

That said, I had a sense Jones was going to be difficult from the moment I asked him to store his laptop away for take-off. I'd put on my best apologetic smile and said gently, "Sir, can I please trouble you to store..."

Nothing. He didn't even deign to look at me.

Then came meal service. I pulled up at his row. His eyes were closed. I remember that specific moment because, as crew, you have to make that call. Do you wake him up and risk his wrath, or not wake him up and risk his wrath?

There was one other passenger in Jones' row. So I asked her, unnaturally loudly, what she'd like to have, hoping to wake Jones up. No such luck. I had to make a decision. Okay. Here we go.

"Sir?... Sir? Would you like your meal?" I repeated myself a couple of times with increasing volume. Hmm. Still nothing. I took a deep breath and tapped him on his shoulder.

He jumped. Full on jumped as if I'd stabbed a flaming hot poker in his eye.

I was horrified. "I'm so sorry, Sir!"

His face started to turn a troubling red. Oh shit. He hissed through clenched teeth, "I told you. I don't want to be disturbed."

I had no idea what he was talking about. Did I just have a sudden memory lapse? Or had he mistaken me for one of the other crew? Where was the DND* sticker anyway? I looked around wildly, and then we locked eyes. Uh oh. His rage mode was nearly at 100%.

I saw the ominous glint in his eyes flare up like a lit fuse. I tensed, but before I could brace myself, his words shot through, cannon-like. "Fuck. FUCK OFF!"

I felt my being shatter from the impact of his words. My ears rang. Shocked and embarrassed, I backed away, and hid away from Jones for the remainder of the flight. I didn't tell any of my fellow crew. I was too ashamed. Ashamed that I'd failed at my job to please my passenger, but even more ashamed that I'd failed to stand up for myself. People-pleasing requires you to be warm and generous and open, but copping abuse requires a tough, solid shield. It would take me a while to learn how to become this contradiction, in order to survive this job.

So this is it, my virgin experience of being verbally abused. Just like the other kind of virgin experience, it was deeply uncomfortable, rather painful actually, and forever unforgettable. 

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*DND = Do Not Disturb. When passengers tell us they just want to sleep and not be woken up for meals, we place a Do Not Disturb sticker next to their headrest.