PPRuNe Forums - Are you a stewardess or a flight attendant? Young or aged? Discuss the article below

I'm not in my 20's nor do I consider myself to be part of the "old" crowd. Perhaps some of you may consider 45 to be "old", I have not quite been able to call myself that yet. I have been flying since 1987 after I graduated from college. BS in Chemistry & Marketing. Enough of the history, but my point is I am not an insipid airhead who started flying for fun or a husband. 20+ years later I consider myself fairly attractive and physically fit. By no means can I fit into my original stew skirt, but I do still wear the heels!! I loved the glamour of the job, and still try to find it in every aspect no matter what the circumstances. Are the men as polite and attractive as they were 20 years ago? Some are, some aren't. I recently saw one of my flying partners try to turn a bag in the overhead bin and turned to the man sitting in the seat below to ask if he would help her shift it & he said no. Fortunately another man was kind enough and gentleman enough to assist. Flight Attendants have a lot less glamour but more respect, stewardesses had attention which wasn't always wanted but, fought hard to make our industry something which was taken far more seriously than it had ever been. If it weren't for those hard working stewardesses we would have gone the way of the Harvey Girls.

The long & the short of it. I want to be a stewardess, I still enjoy the people & the conversation, I miss the long, detailed services, I never read in the galley nor on my jumpseat, I seek out passengers to talk to. What can I say, we have a rich history which many choose not to remember. Some of the best Flight Attendants I have flown with have been the women and men who have been flying for 40 or 50 years. Sometimes the worst ones are the ones with 10-30 years, or the ones who are under 10 years, but started flying when they were done raising their family and started at the age of 50. The industry has changed even in my short 20 years. If you're looking for a pretty young thing to wait on you, make enough money for a private jet.:)