Why is everyone so angry?

There is anger in the air

Being hired to be a stewardess was like turning into Cinderella. It meant you were beautiful, single, slender, under 30 and had a college degree. Some airlines requested modeling expertise, necessary to serve those seven-course gourmet dinners with charm and grace, in mid-air.

Stewardesses wore uniforms designed by Balenciaga and Pucci. They sported perky hats, wore high heels and had matching luggage. They traveled to exotic locations.

As time went on, planes got bigger and carried more passengers. The gourmet dinners were replaced with peanuts and a soft drink. An unruly passenger would refuse to put on his seatbelt or demand a second bag of peanuts. These were usually passengers who had one-too-many of the mini-drinks. They would offer him a free pillow. Stewardesses were proficient at handling these little “bumps” in the air and everything would soon settle into a routine flight.

Civil rights laws made it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of age, sex, or race and airlines had to abandon its policy of hiring young attractive women, they had to drop their no-marriage and no-pregnancy rules. Airlines adopted the title “flight attendant” in order to promote equal opportunities for men.

Flight attendants have physically demanding jobs. They must be able to lift baggage into the overhead bins and push a heavy service cart up and down the aisle.

Today, flight attendant uniforms are constructed of manmade materials treated with chemicals to make them stain, wrinkle and fire-resistant. However, many flight attendants claim their uniforms caused their hair to fall out and made them break out in hives, which made them irritable. I believe the problem has been corrected and the uniforms are made of more natural fibers.

Then came the incredible shrinking seat. People are packed in like sardines in a tin can. You find yourself in the middle seat, wedged between a bickering couple. The kid behind you is kicking the back of your seat, and a baby is wailing two seats back. A young guy reaches into the overhead bin and spills his chocolate mocha frappe all over the tray table that your laptop is sitting on. The flight attendant arrives quickly and very efficiently mops up the mess, then informs you, with cordial politeness, that the airline now charges for napkins and that the spill will cost you $12.50.

Is it any wonder that people are freaking out on airplanes. Smaller seats, less legroom, with fewer lavatories does not make for an enjoyable travel experience. Then, along comes the COVID-19 pandemic and air passengers are faced with even more travel headaches.

Today, flight attendants stand at the front of the plane, aligned for battle, assessing the volatility level of boarding passengers. The unruly passenger, no longer calmed by a free pillow, is capable of causing physical injury. A new requirement has been added to flight attendant training — they must be proficient in one of the martial arts, preferably a black belt.

However, things are not as bleak as they appear. Flight attendants rank #4 as one of the highest paying jobs without a degree, according to USNews. Some of the perks of being a flight attendant is that they don’t work the typical 9-5 job and can choose their hours and travel schedules. There is a strong camaraderie among flight attendants and they can travel all over the world, free.

Remember, the flight attendant is the first responder in case there is an emergency aboard the aircraft.