Blog-TOWER OF BABEL

I have been on 6 trips in 5 days. How? you ask. 

5 day Tortola, 4 days Jamaica, 4 days super bowl, 4 days Vancouver. 

all cancelled. I am using my passport as a coaster. I feel like I am suck in a permanent dress rehearsal. 

My warm weather and cold weather suitcase lay confused in my car. magazines , lemons, lime and milk bought but not consumed. You are on, you are  off, you are on standby, you are going, you are not going. Owner wants the a/c, no flight attendant, you are not on the overflight, they want a male, they want a yoga instructor, do you know magic tricks, they want mandarin speakers, they want vegan chef, they do not want me.

I am up, I am down, I am still on the ground. I just need a takeoff and a landing, with whatever in between. I will speak in devils tongue, just get me GOING. My son keeps finding me at home, looking a bit scruffy, bewildered and lack luster. He will eat those lemons for dinner. I will throw the milk at that wall i have been staring at for 1 month. I do not even know how to pack anymore. 

I forgot shoes, the most important part of a together outfit. I did reap 2 cancellation fees for my efforts, I will go buy  25 cupcakes with the money and eat them all while I again, watch OPRAH and DR PHIL. I am going to burn my blue and white cloud bathrobe that my mom gave me 8 years ago. It could stand up in the corner by itself by now. 

My unemployed look is.. blue cloud bathrobe, white socks, hair akimbo, raccoon eyes, rainforest expresso coffee with vanilla creamer, pen over my ear, trips sheets all over the desk, glasses, phone in said robes pocket, and maybe a hammer (you never know when you will need one). The dog looks at me in hope of WALK? 

I look at my dog and say FLY? My cat, who is alway on my bed (get a job, cat), looks at me, and thinks "what a loser, come on, take a nap with me." I will never complain again about having a full-time job. I looked in the New Haven newspaper, in the want ads, and where there was 4 pages of ads, now, there is one column. HVAC technician? Surgical nurse? Hospice care? Let Yale University experiment on you? possibly. Spinal Tap test 400.00,????? yeah . Buddy Acne patient. paid study? 

All I say is next week will be better. It better be. 

So I keep getting theses yellow envelopes for peoples bank,multiple bile colored envelopes , total bounced check and returned check fees totaling 250.00. I asked the bank manager if I was going to be taken off to jail They do have lot of jails in ct. The women's jail is far worse than the mens. more bickering. probably no hormone  replacement, Xanax or tequila  there.

Being broke is sort of like a prison sentence. No freedom, no joy ,no national enquirer bought in the check out line. Now I read it and put it back. The cashier leers and says to herself, she must work for an aviation company. I used to love this aviation company, It was pristine, lovely and I was proud to be a part of its mechanisms. It will be great again too, but I cannot go back there. Too much history, like an old boyfriend, once hurt, I lie in wait for more disappointment.   It is never the same, i lay an broken woman. 

So back to talking about prison, if I did have to go. Would I have a roommate that I called Bitch? Would they pair me up with another flight attendant who wrote bad checks, or would I get a bank robber or a mass murderer? I would like the bank robber because, in this economy, i am going to need a new trade. Murder was thought of this week, but it is a messy occupation. Do they have a resume center there? Can I collect unemployment whilst living with my bitch? Can I get on Ameritrade? Do they have vegetarian fare? Church? Pilates? Coke machine? Quarters? Meditation classes? Only one phone call a day? Any thoughts?

I have a Migraine. I have not had one since i was 9 years old. I deposited my paycheck and vacation pay, total over 10,000.00. I wrote checks, i planned a vacation. i paid my credit cards off in advance. it as my final check from company XYZ. It is my layoff tribute check. Before unemployment kicks in. My mortgage, my car insurance, my hope of respite, my swan song check. bounced. I have no recourse or back up, all will  bounce. I do not borrow, and no one has any money anyway. You do not know where i work, but it is a sign of the times, go do something else. Get trained, flying is dried up! Camelot is over. My son asked me if we were broke, I SAID NO. NOT YET.

I CAN REPORT THEM TO THE LABOR DEPT AFTER 7 DAYS. Done. the pain and agony that they have caused me is insurmountable. But. i should have gotten out when the going was good. last year. The expenses are a joke. One pilot is owed 70.000.00. That is 1/4 of a house. They are not paying him. My question is this? can you afford to work for a company that you have to bankroll?

I am afraid to ask how everyone is doing in aviation. A lot of checking in with people - is really asking how their job is. That all seems so tentative - like skating on thin ice. I like to avoid family secrets, bad news, unemployment and loss of any sort. It is getting to a point in my life, that flying can no longer define who I am and what I am about. I am really disengaging -flying, it is like taking off a wet bathing suit. When something wears me out to the point of non-recognition, I take a break from it and it is taking a break from me. I get the pink slip on Monday. Pink slip, why do they call it that? Anyone know? Should be grey slip to match the New England sky.

 

So this is what I am about without flights.

I like happy hour

I can make all family functions

I know what is in my fridge.

I keep medical appointments.

I answer the phone.

I go to Costco, not in a rush anymore.

I can remember birthdays.

I attend weddings.

I am a member of a book club.

I now know five more people in my town who are not in aviation.

I can attend sales.

I can show up for job interviews.

I can volunteer at the church and work in the food bank.

I have finished 4 books.

My front porch is swept.

My son is not a juvenile delinquent yet.

He actually wears fresh socks every day, cuz I had other suspicions.

I make my root coloring appt.

I have nail fill on time.

I do not miss it right now, but check in with me in 6 weeks.

Have you all looked in the want ads lately? What used to be 2 pages in the Sunday paper, there is now a half a column. Flight departments are ridding themselves of aircraft, flight attendants who retire, are not being replaced. The ones who remain work harder and more days. They are happy to have a job.

Aviation has served me well, but at present, it is heartbreaking. We all did love the flush times. So what am I going to do being laid off? I am going to leave it alone for a while. It will come back, I think around may 2009. I have a severance and i am going to learn how to collect unemployment.

I am going back to school and maybe take 1 or 2 trips that I have already committed to. I cannot depend on something that is not there. I have called around and it is stagnant. People NEED nurses, doctors and medical personnel. Flights are leaving with no flight attendants now, the owners do not want to pay the added expenses. Do not wait for the phone to ring, (it may during the upcoming Super Bowl), you have to find something else for a while. any thoughts?