Confessions of a Hostie 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

way.
    With hundreds of impatient passengers to
serve, on most flights, it just isn't humanly possible to be chatty
and relaxed with everyone. I know from experience that if I were to
slow down, take my time, and serve five passengers deliberately and
efficiently, the sixth passenger would complain that the meal has
taken too long to get to them, the fourteenth would complain that
their meal wasn't hot enough, and the eighteenth that their meal
was cold. Then we would have to go through the 'I've been waiting
for 40 minutes for you to collect my tray' procedure when we
collected the dirty trays... or worse.
    Some passengers dump their dirty trays
wherever they see fit - on door bustles, spare seats, crew seats,
and even on the floor. Could you imagine being in a restaurant and
someone places their dirty plate on the floor? I know aircrafts
aren't exactly five-star restaurants, yet the thought of dumping a
used tray and meal on the floor is beyond my comprehension. As far
as trays being placed on door bustles and crew seats, I'll address
my thoughts about that with this little story: While on a cart,
collecting dirty passenger trays, during a flight from a certain
Asian destination, we had sudden turbulence. The seatbelt sign came
on accompanied by an announcement from the flight-deck informing
the passengers and crew to sit down immediately. When the word immediately is used on an aircraft,
it means just that: sit down and strap in immediately .
    I was close to a crew jump seat, so we locked
the brake on the cart, leaving it in the aisle, and I headed toward
that nearest jump seat. The turbulence was already quite severe, so
making my way down the aisle was no easy affair. When I arrived at
the seat I discovered three dirty trays piled where I needed to it.
In addition, the door bustle beside the seat was stacked high with
trays. I had no choice but to try and place the trays left on my
seat onto the floor and strap myself in. With the shaking aircraft,
the act of placing the trays on the
floor was more like throwing .
    Safety, including my safety, is always the
number one priority, although I knew the mess now at my feet will
need to be cleaned up by someone - and that someone would be me.
Adding to my woes were the trays on the door bustle. The turbulence
was such that the aircraft shuddered in a side-to-side motion. Most
of the trays fell off the bustle and onto the floor; right beside
me. Some of the trays fell on me. Half full coffee cups splashed
stale coffee up my legs and scraps of food littered the floor, my
lap, and my feet.
    I was angry.
    When the seatbelt sign finally turned off I
leant down to begin picking up trays. It was obvious which
passengers had dumped them as they were the ones with an empty tray
table in front of them. Some of these passengers did not speak
English; it mattered little as my expression relayed exactly what I
was thinking. I calmly placed the trays back on each of the vacant
empty tray tables. It didn't matter whose tray it originally was. I
then picked up the strewn individual components to put on each
tray. I returned to the galley to retrieve a dustpan, broom, and a
bag to put all the scraps in.
    While I was on my hands and knees cleaning
and scrubbing, one of the passengers, to whom I'd returned a tray,
leaned over the top of me in an attempt to place the tray back on
the door bustle. I can't remember my exact words, but I did not
swear - well, not out loud anyway.
     
    If it is not already apparent, my pet hate is
trays being placed on the floor - often in areas which may cause a
safety hazard to the crew or other passengers. The selfishness and
irresponsibility of these actions is inexcusable. When I tell Helen
of passengers doing this, she too is dumbfounded.
    'Does it happen very often?' she once
asked.
    It shouldn't, but it does.
    I once slipped on a tray placed in the aisle,
so I am particularly cautious and equally frustrated by the
scenario.
    Here's a tip for that .1% who deem