美国空乘的暗语.docVIP

Your Flight Attendants Have a Secret Language... Here’s What They’re Saying Blissom Booblé has worked as an English teacher,burlesque performer, flight attendant, and social advocate in the Deep South and Southwestern United States. Senior Mama An affectionate term used to describe veteran flight attendants. As a newbie, I had heard horror stories about flying with the Senior Mamas. When I discovered I’d be flying with Blanche, the no-nonsense veteran who never smiled, I was scared. But I listened and asked questions. By the end of the trip, I knew not only how to perfect my drink cart, but also how to cook rice in the coffee pot. “Here,” she handed me the strange utensil at the end of our last flight, “you’ll never need another piece of silverware in the air again.” And I haven’t. I’ve used my spork: a half spoon, half fork combo on every flight. Pink Eye No, I’m not breaking out my medical kit to cure your conjunctivitis. If a red eye is a long overnight flight, a pink eye is any flight just short of that. For the purposes of the airlines, a red eye is a flight that touches the 1 a.m. hour, so a flight that goes into midnight, but narrowly escapes the next hour could be defined as a pink eye. Victory Lap After a three- or four-day trip flying to several different cities, flight attendants will often get stuck flying back to their base airport but still be required to do a quick turn to a city close to home before finishing. Sometimes called a “turn and burn” because there is no time to clean, rearrange, or refuel the aircraft due to the short timeframe. Lips and tips They can work 12-hour days and stay smiling. (Photo: Thinkstock) A reference to a flight attendant’s matching fingernails and lipstick. Used as a gentle reminder that despite 12-hour days, five hours of sleep, meals grabbed during 30-minute layovers and eaten standing up, drunken passengers, medical emergencies involving bodily fluids, and hauling around enough supplies to maneuver a small army, we fl