In my shoes...

"In my shoes" is a weekly series that is updated every Thursday. I hope you enjoy the following post and that like me, you will learn more about a different walk of life, which will help you to love better! We love comments or likes and would love to have you follow this series with us. We have some amazing women and amazing topics to share. 

People always ask me what it was like to be a flight attendant, so I thought that would be a fun thing to write about!

Growing up, I really had no idea what I "wanted to be when I grew up." I always hated it when people asked me that question because I really didn't know what to say and I felt like a failure for not having this burning passion within me! It was as if I was destined for nothingness because I didn't have big dreams of going to college and doing something really successful. This went on even after I started college, but I went anyways as a part of going through the motions to being a "successful American;)."

I had an aunt who was a flight attendant and I always thought that seemed like a cool job, so when I turned twenty, (the required age to be hired), and still had no other burning desires, I applied for Southwest Airlines. By a miracle of God, and looking back, truly by His divine intervention, I was accepted to the training program that is in Dallas and lasts for 6 weeks.

It was extremely hard. I'm pretty sure it is their intent to do everything in their power to get you to quit during training. They are not very nice to you, they examine your every word, piece of clothing(yes, piece of clothing), and action.

Check out this book...

It's called the flight attendant manual. We learned about a chapter a day, and were tested on that chapter the following day. Every test must be passed by 90% or above, with the exception of one retake. Some of the tests were written, and some were oral, or proficiency's. I had three different roommates because my first two got sent home for not scoring high enough.  It's the wildest thing, you go to class almost every day and notice that certain faces are missing which makes things just a little more nerve-racking! The manual has so much "secret" stuff in it that you have to return it when you are no longer employed by them. Bummer. I was sad because it has a TON of first aid stuff that I wanted to keep on hand!

You learn everything from evacuating an aircraft in the event of an emergency landing, to putting out a fire, delivering a baby and/or any other medical emergency that may happen during flight, to handling a hostage situation,  (which was modified greatly after 9/11).  ( I was in the air on 9/11 by the way, had just left Baltimore and was headed home to San Antonio.)

Some classmates and I with our dummy for practicing CPR on:).

I can't remember what this thing is called, but in the event of a fire and/or lots of smoke, you put it on and you can breathe for a few minutes. I was the lucky one who got to demonstrate for the class!

Here are some classmates posing with emergency equipment!

Baby dummies.

Practicing CPR.

I graduated training and was an official flight attendant in August of 2001.  It was the first thing I ever graduated from. I received a GED from high school, and did not finish college because I decided I wanted to work instead. I will never forget how proud my dad was of me that day!

This is the aunt who's footsteps I followed in.

They MADE us wear this hideous, RED lipstick! I felt like a clown;).

As a flight attendant or pilot, you really can live anywhere you want. It's smart however, to live close to your base to make life easier for yourself, and to cut down on your time commuting on airplanes. I was based in Baltimore as my first home base and I considered living there, but it never worked out. I am so thankful for that! Some flight attendants and pilots invest in living situations called "crash pads." It's an apartment that several people share. Some choose to live in them, and some "crash" there only on the nights that they are not able to make it home for whatever reason. Whether it be because they have an early check-in so they have to fly in the night before their trip leaves, or if they get home too late from a trip and cannot fly home until the next day. I moved home with my parents because I figured that was the smartest thing to do since I was going to be gone four days of the week. I tried  out a crash pad, but it really wasn't for me. I preferred to waste my money on a hotel room when I got "stuck," or to just sleep in the flight attendant lounge located in airports that have a base, and then catch the earliest flight I could home.

Airline crews can choose to work am trips or pm trips. Am trips are the first flights out and the check-ins are ridiculously early.  You usually would find older crews working these trips because they liked to get home early and they didn't mind the early check-ins. These were also the people who would check-in to their hotels on overnights and then go explore the town. They would be in bed by 10:00pm.



I liked pm trips, not because I was a drinker, but because I was young and I liked to sleep in. I still do, but it doesn't happen these days! That's ok though, it's worth the trade-off!

Trips can be turn-arounds, which means you leave your base and return to your base on the same day, all the way to four day trips and everything in between. When you are the new kid in town, you work four-day trips most of the time. You do not have a lot of flexibility in your schedule. However, the longer you work there, the better your schedule gets! The job really has great perks if you work there for a long time. I'm talking 10+ years.  If you work there for 20-30 years, you really get good perks!

Overnights are anywhere from 7 hours to 23 hours long! Seven hours is hardly anytime for sleep and 23 hours is an awesome opportunity to see the town!

Working at an airline gets you lots of opportunities to earn free flights for friends and family. I took advantage of this some, but not enough!! One of my favorite trips was to Vegas for 23 hours. My friends, Cori and Shawna,  met me there and they had a free place to stay! We stayed out all night long, slept in, had breakfast in bed, and then did some fun things during the day! It was so much fun!

Another time my mom met me in San Diego and we had lots of fun. California was my favorite place to stay. It is so beautiful there and the weather is amazing!

Here are a few more pics from another girls weekend that we took advantage of my benefits!

The beach.

Venice Beach.

Rodeo Drive.

This summer Matt Carter talked to us at Pine Cove about how the highest percentage of affairs are in the workplace. He said that the reason is because of the bond that is formed when a man and a woman are working together for a common goal. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of extramarital affairs and such in the airline industry. I think what Matt says played  a big part in that, and I also think it is an environment that makes it way too easy to do something like that without your spouse ever knowing. Staying in hotel rooms night after night, all across the country, by yourself, can also make for a lonely life. When you are on a trip with a person for days, you get to know that person pretty well, and the temptation can be too much for some, especially if they are struggling in other areas of their life or marriage. It makes me so sad to type this because I have seen how destructive affairs and loneliness can be.

Landing in California, Vegas, or Seattle for a few hours with another lonely person makes an "escape" from reality a little too easy.  Again, I am not saying this always happens. I knew many other flight crew who avoided these traps at all costs.

Before 9/11, flight attendants could go into the cockpit really anytime they wanted if the flight was short, or a light load. It was a nice break to step up there for a few minutes and get the best view ever of this beautiful country. Pilots really do have a sweet job!  I used to say that I had the best view ever from my office!

 You know when your plane is at the gate, and you can't figure out why you aren't being boarded onto it yet?? This is what your flight crew is probably doing...

Ha, ha...I'm JUST kidding!! Pictures like this would only be taken if the flight wasn't scheduled to leave for a while. When your plane isn't being boarded, it IS for a reason, I promise! And it usually has NOTHING at all to do with the flight crew, so be nice to them! They are probably just as frustrated as you that their day is being prolonged!

I really thought that I would be a flight attendant until it was time to retire. I dreamed of being home during the week with my kids while my husband worked, and working on the weekends while my husband stayed home with the kids. Then I met Jason Carlettini, the love of my life. Who also happens to be a pastor, which meant he worked on the weekends and I was a pastor's wife! I never saw that coming, but at the same time, it didn't surprise me one bit. I couldn't stand leaving him and he would tell you that I pretty much quit the day we got married! That's not true though, I just got rid of a lot of my trips, kind of like you can do as a waiter or waitress.

Then we had Dylan, and I definitely could not stand the thought of ANYONE other than me watching that precious little bundle of joy! I never went back to work after he was born. There are some days where the thought of stepping onto an airplane, flying to California, sleeping in a quiet, dark, cold hotel room and taking a bubble bath for as long as I want to with NO distractions sounds a little appealing.

But I choose to stay home and wipe bottoms, clean up cheerios, bread crumbs, toilet stains, and footprints. I choose to watch first smiles, first laughs, first words to say and first words to read over any of the other stuff. Maybe when my kids are grown, I will go back to flying. Maybe not. Maybe I will stay home forever and work alongside of my husband. Who knows what the future holds? Being a flight attendant was an overall very fun job. I am glad I had the experience and I am glad I got to see so many cool places that I otherwise never would have been able to.

Written by me:), If you made it this far, thanks for "listening" to me blab!

Love,