Author Archives: Teresahamiltonwriter

San Francisco

I sat on the jump seat on the flight deck of a Boeing 747 as it approached the runway. It was my first flight as a supernumerary and the Captain had generously allowed me to grace his presence. The early afternoon sun was dazzling as the ground quickly came up to meet us. You can’t feel a thing from up there. Not like the normal crash, jolt and oxygen masks coming down as the wheels touch the ground of a heavy landing when we’re sitting down the back. It felt as though we’d just gently stepped out of the sky. I bet the pilot thinks he’s fantastic if he lands like that every time. No wonder they are treated like Gods by the rest of the crew. A lot of the stewardesses I’ve met are gagging to get a ring on their finger from one of these Gods. That is the ultimate prize apparently. Although looking at the state of some of the flight crew I can’t see why. Perhaps if I was looking for a father figure or free flights on the jump seat forever, I might be tempted. Or maybe the attraction is the power element? One of the other girls was going all giggly when ever the striped God came onto her radar, ( they have stripes on their epaulettes so you can recognise what rank they are). As Butch and Sundance would say -Who are these guys? The Captain’s word is law aboard the plane. Nothing happens in that silver bird without his say so. It would have to be a case of Mutiny on the Bounty if the crew wanted to disagree with his commands. Bit tricky to eject him into the Pacific from 35,000ft, but you get the drift.

San Francisco. What could be better for my first flight as a real stewardess?  Well, the Caribbean actually. Kate and Lucy from my training course had opened their rosters to find they were being sent there. Okay, so I was a tinge green around the gills but I must be grateful. Word has it that there are a lot worse places to go than San Francisco and I’m sure as a newbie I’ll get more than my chance to find out. Talk about naïve though! I wondered why so many of this crew had requested a trip to San Fran. Needless to say they were male. I felt such an idiot when one of the straight guys explained. Apparently there’s more than ‘one gay in the village’ in San Francisco. We were brewing up in the galley before take off and he gently explained to me why the crew was top heavy with male members when I casually commented on the fact. I could just feel my cheeks colouring up like a furnace and I had to pretend I was desperate to check the toilets at the back of the aircraft till they returned to their usual pale tone. Doh… I’d better man-up. Shows how sheltered I’ve been in ‘Twinklesville,’ cosseted with Matt all these years. I feel like Sleeping Beauty waking up to realise there’s a big, bad world out there. Oh, when I say ‘Beauty’, that’s not after a long night sector over the Pond after sightseeing and wild partying, of course.

Thank goodness for the steward who helped me complete my paperwork for landing into Heathrow, otherwise I’d have had to request another round trip to get it done in time. We have to reconcile any duty free sales with the stock that we had originally. Taking into account currency exchange rates there is a little room for error, but not the amount I seemed to come up with on my first reckoning. I’d have to have dipped deeply into my pockets to square up my figures until the steward kindly showed me where I was going wrong. (Probably had something to do with the tears welling and the amount of swear words coming from the galley that made him take pity on me?)The documents all have to be signed and the trolleys sealed before landing into Heathrow due to strict customs regulations. The last thing I wanted on my inaugural flight was to be cuffed and led off the plane into a cell because of i) inadvertent embezzlement or even worse, ii) accusations of smuggling.

It’s my own fault; I probably tried to do too much whilst I was out there and was knackered. Well, you would go for it in a big way, wouldn’t you, when it’s your first time in a city? We only had one and half days off there.  Four of us hired a car, (thank God they didn’t ask me to drive – far too confusing with the driver’s seat the wrong side) and we took ourselves off to the see the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Fisherman’s Wharf and China town. It was amazing. We went down Lombard Street, (famous for being the crookedest street in the world,) and ended up having buffalo stew at a Diner the others knew about.
            I had a great view of the city from my hotel window. I was on the twentieth floor with huge picture windows that looked out onto the streets below. Rows and rows of houses and shops were laid out in regimented form before me. As the sun went down the streetlights began to twinkle in a long line as far as I could see until they disappeared over the hill.

     I think I’m going to enjoy the hotel part of the job. Crew are always accommodated in tip top hotels. No more two star rubbish for me- and that was when Matt wanted to treat me as well! He whisked me away one weekend; I thought I had captured a spontaneous romantic. (Do they exist?)  We ended up checking into a dingy bed and breakfast somewhere by the coast. Damp sheets and a ceiling that ‘rained’ every time the man in the room above didn’t pull his shower curtain across properly. I tried to be considerate and say it didn’t matter, but it would have been better to go camping, at least I would have been wrapped in my own bed linen, even if it was still my old ‘Hello Kitty’ sleeping bag that you and I used to share on our sleep-overs. I must sound ungrateful but come on, when you’re trying to impress your girlfriend; surely you try a bit harder than that? Even if you have known her since she had her braces on.

Suzi x

(More adventures of Suzi on the blog on my website http://www.teresahamilton.co.uk/blog.html

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