Spokane:

OH Spokane how I love the so. I got a call about a week or so ago telling me they were dead heading me to Spokane to do a few legs the next morning then arrive back at base later that night. Oh yeah dead head, it means you are flying as positive space (income generating) to get to where you need to go for work. You’re not working the flight just wasting time and space thus the dead head (not an inside joke but a real industry term I swear). I flew in to meet a crew that was already there. Their other flight attendant ran out of reserve time and I guess I was to be there replacement. I got in at about 4pm and was SOOOOO excited to find out that I had a 15 hour overnight in the heart of down town. When you fly to meet a crew it’s always a dilemma. Do I try to meet up with the them, people I don’t know that aren’t even from my base, or do I go it alone? They could be super fun people who want to explore as much as I do or they could be complete downers and bring down the whole experience and of course I would be too polite to break away from the group at that point. That day I was feeling adventurous and decided to just take on the city myself. And I’m glad I did. The first turn I took lead me to a river front with a cute little park it was very pretty and I took out my camera. I kept walking and soon realized I had just discovered the beginning of the park. With every turn I took I discovered something even more amazing. Radio Flyer park encompasses a small amusement park, a carousel, a movie theater, a trolley, many walking trails, and best of all a waterfall! I must have walked for hours. I had this overwhelming reoccurring thought that I really could live here. I was beautiful, progressive, full of art and entertainment, and all surrounded in nature. Honestly, words cannot convey how full of life this city was. After exploring the park and the downtown area I at some vegetarian lasagna from a local co-op, took a nice long dip in the outside hot tub, and finally fell asleep to a movie on TV. What a great night. I honestly recommend visiting Spokane I was AMAZING!!!

Little Flyers

Children on a plane can either be super amusing and adorable or the worst thing to happen to you since you had your wisdom teeth pulled. At this point I’ve been on every end of this spectrum from the kids screaming and getting ill and causing a chain of people vomiting to identical triplets that slept and were simply admired the whole way. A few months ago I had a plane full of middle-schoolers on their way to DC that were very well behaved: however their naïveté began to show as they all pulled out their wallets and hello kitty coin purses as I came through with my service. It was endearing, I finally decided to remake my announcement about everything being complimentary and explained that there was no charge of randy soda or snack items. UM’s (unaccompanied minors) can be very unpredictable. They are boarded on first and last to get off because there they need to be handed off to an agent. For those parents who need to send their kids alone on a plane it’s definitely a worthwhile service and worth the extra cost. However, it’s not a nanny service and parents should explain to their children that this does not allot them special privileges or service. I’ve had some very respectful sweet ums but on the flip side I’ve also had some very terrible children that drove me crazy. We prep them on how the flight will go and how all the buttons on their ceiling panel work just in case they might need us or have a concern. This does not mean they should continually press it asking every question under the sun and expect to be waited on hand and foot. It never seems to supplies me how little parents discipline their children on planes. I have had to discipline the parents for not disciplining their children. “Sir you need to take that game boy away from your son if he can’t keep it turned off until we take off. I have told him several times now and if you don’t control your children I will have to take authorities action.” Just ridiculous I have to ask parents to keep their children from running up and down the aisles. What’s even crazier is that when I do tell these parents something the usually sigh and roll their eyes before they comply with my request. I commonly use the expression “some people’s kids” but it seems that I’ve recently had to adjust that saying to “some kids’ parents”.