Is there life after cabin crew?

[flapsforty]

Brandy, sorry to hear about your current situation. But I am sure you will easily find another job to fill the time between now and your next flying job! I have very similar experiences to what sweety describes in her post, so take heart.

During the Gulf war, our company implored us to take voluntary leave of absence, so nobody would have to be fired. At the time I was still very company-minded and felt that had to do my bit.
So I took 6 months no pay.
Two weeks later my husband got fired.
Suddenly we badly needed my income, among other things to pay the fees for the international school our kids attended at the time. We could cut back on many things no problem, but to yank the kids out of school in the middle of the year was something we both desperately wanted to avoid.
Within days I had 3 jobs lined up, plus various other job-offers.

Did bus-guide for tourists during day time; great fun & and loads of tip!
Waitressed at embassy parties; the looks on the faces of some of the guests as they recognised me from school was priceless.
Worked 3 or 4 nights a week as barmaid in a start-up café.
F U N
Behind the scenes we had to make procedures and write an "ops-manual" for everything that had to be done; girls had to be trained to actually smile at the patrons, make them feel welcome even if their budget that day only stretched to a glass of water, instead of giving them the customary local scowl.

Behind the bar I finally experienced what it's like to have repeat customers. To see the effect of giving friendly, relaxed service in getting people to come back time and time again.
The satisfaction of seeing the end of the evening tally raise daily was great, even if it wasn't our own money.
Friday and saturday night soon became riotous affairs, with a doorman to keep the line of people trying to get in in some kind of order. With our favourite music blasting from the sound system, beer flowing freely, people dancing in one corner, necking in the other, doing table stripteases and having elbow wrestling matches. The freedom to do exactly as we bl**dy well pleased, and no Bean Counters breathing down our necks.
Customers trained so well that they knew we were "on break & having a small beer ourselves" as soon as they heard the first tones of "Into The Misty".
It was backbreaking work, worse than any flight I've ever done. It was also more spontaneous fun and WAY better paid than my flying job.

At the end of the Gulf war I had saved enough money to keep the kids at the same place until the end of the school year. I had met a lot of fun people from the local theatre and music scenes and had learnt that flying prepares us for a shocking variety of jobs.

Brandy, employers know that. Don't be discouraged, please!