Boot Camp

We are not born butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. It takes dedication and training to shape and mold us to fit neatly into the boxes that are our careers. Becoming a flight attendant was a similar if not even more grueling process than some. It was basically four weeks of full time college classroom training and finally a “quick and sweet” 2.5 hours of in flight training on 2:3 of our aircrafts. A beloved friend said to me, “how much training do you need to learn to push a cart?” Some people don’t realize it but you do have to be certified to be a flight attendant and everything is regulated by the good old FAA. The first day we arrived for training we came into a large room with a projector screen and a myriad of tables and desks. They were lined to the “T” and topped with perfectly arranged gift baskets, instantly communicating that everything was to be done in one way and one way only, but of course it all must be done with a smile. Everything you wanted to know about what it was truly like to be a flight attendant was subtly communicated to us on the first day. We started with the basics HR paperwork, FAA regulations, and what you can and more importantly cannot do. Everything was planned and yet nothing went as planned but rest assured even when I could see the frustration in their eyes everyone continued to smile.

It was detailed to us that we were to be in class from roughly 8am-6pm Monday through Friday and most weekends. We were to take a something like 6 Exams, 4 competency checks, 2 emergency evacuation role plays, and of course a final. Make no mistake this underpaying job was not to be given away to just anyone; you must first pass the class with acquiring a score of 80% or higher on all your exams and although some things did come with second chances if you were to get to that point, hope of ever making it through would dwindle rapidly. Fact: 12% of the people who are hired for this position do not make it through the class. We studied everything from FAR’s (federal aviation regulations), to general aviation physics, to first aid and self defense, and of course security infractions (everything but how to push carts). There was even a whole day of training I can’t divulged for if I did we would all be in a lot of trouble. It seems every other day was an exam sometimes two a day. For the next few weeks my life consisted of getting up at 6:30am get on the shuttle bus by 7:30am class from 8am-6pm, a quick dinner, studying from 7pm-9pm, showering and a half hour of television or cell phone conversation, the it was off to bed around 10:30 just to do it all over again. We were issued a manual that was proportion to the Christian bible and Just like the religious text of any major religion we were to read it, know it, and thusly live by it.

When I first embarked on this journey I had visions of a whimsical experience with magical bonding properties that would lead to everlasting friendship and end with a feeling of belonging, almost like a child does awaiting a yearly summer camp program where they first acquire a sense of identity. What did end up transpiring was almost the reverse. The whole thing was quite stressful and I grew to question myself more than when I started. I guess I still have a while to go before I find what truly feels right for me, and what’s become even more evident is that it really is up to me to find it and create my own happiness. Now that’s not to say I didn’t find the training worth while because at least for experience sake it was in fact worth every minute of it. The people were nice but for the most part we didn’t belong to the same generation. You would be supprised by the wide age range of recruitment. I suppose if there's one things that's almost always true and any situation it's that nothing ever turns out exactly as expected. But then again isn't that what makes life interesting?