I’m sure you, my dear readers, will be happy to know I am back on vacation. Yessiree. I went on vacation the afternoon of November 8th. Even better for me, I won’t fly again until December. Now don’t you worry my lovely friends. There will be someone working your flights these nexts few weeks. Sadly for those of you who are flying, it just won’t be me. Thankfully we have brand spanking new Skytresses and Skyters out on the line now. They will be flying Thanksgiving like I did when I was a new Skytress. Incredibly, I can only remember flying two Thanksgivings in my 32 years of being a Skytress. It’s not because I only flew two Thanksgivings. No siree bob. I flew my fair share of Thanksgiving trips. Yet, somehow, I have completely blocked out those Thanksgivings. I call it Turkey Trauma…..aviation amnesia. Thankfully for you all, I vividly remember my first Thanksgiving flying. Yessiree. It scarred me for life. So, of course, I HAVE to share this story with you.
I wasn’t surprised when I got the call from crew scheduling that I had a trip on Thanksgiving. However, I was surprised when the scheduler told me I would be laying over in Puerto Rico. Actually, my heart sank. I was positive I would be laying over somewhere in the continental United States. I heard numerous stories from my fellow Skytresses and Skyters about flying on Thanksgiving. It seemed every hotel across the nation had an extra-special Thanksgiving dinner prepared just for the airline crews. Yessiree. I had visions of wearing a nice fall outfit to dinner. There would be beautiful fall colors on the trees outside of the hotel restaurant. I envisioned myself sipping hot apple cider and having a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert. No. I didn’t envision myself flying to Puerto Rico on Thanksgiving. Puerto Rico didn’t have fall foliage. No siree bob. They had hot sandy beaches filled with sunbathers. Heck, I wasn’t supposed to get cooked on Thanksgiving. The turkey was!
I remember anxiously walking into the briefing room. Several Skytresses were already quietly sitting at the briefing table. I quickly learned none of us had ever flown to Puerto Rico. Even worse, all of us had barely flown on the L-1011. The L-1011, or the Tri-Star, as we also referred to it, was the biggest airplane in our fleet. It was an intimidating aircraft for a new Skytress or Skyter to fly on. Although I had only been flying for five months, I was the most senior reserve Skytress sitting in the room. Then the two senior line holder Skytresses walked into the briefing room. They were language speakers. They had only been flying a few months longer than us. At the time our airline needed Spanish speakers. Thus, these Skytresses were never on reserve. Yep. They had the great fortune of being line holders the day they graduated from training. These Skytresses didn’t have to sit and wait for scheduling to call them for a trip. No siree bob. They knew what trips they would be flying all month. These ladies flew to Puerto Rico every trip. Now normally these Skytresses would have been the most junior Skytresses on the crew. However, the senior Skytresses did what senior Skytresses do. They chose not to fly on Thanksgiving. These Spanish speaking Skytresses didn’t miss them one bit. They relished being the Senior Mamas to us reserve Skytresses. It was quite obvious to the rest of us. To say the power went to their beautiful Skytress heads,…..would clearly be an understatement.
The senior Skytresses were well versed in talking down to us. In both English….and in Spanish. However, they weren’t completely awful. They knew it was a special holiday. They even brought a treat to make it more special. Yessiree. They excitedly informed us they had brought a big cookie to celebrate, “your chicken day”. Oh how they laughed when they said this. They laughed in English….and in Spanish. I looked at the reserve Skytresses on our crew. We all wanted to roll our eyes into the back of our heads. Only it was Thanksgiving. It would have been rude to do such a thing. I regret it terribly now.
The crew walked silently up to the aircraft. Well, except for the Senior Mama’s. They were giddy. Giddy with power. When we got on the aircraft we briefed with the pilots. The pilots informed us their families would be coming on the trip with us. The senior Skytresses were ecstatic. The more the merrier as far as they were concerned. The one Skytress happily opened her cookie box. A turkey was decorated on top of the chocolate chip cookie. She proudly told the pilots she brought a cookie to celebrate, “your chicken day”. The pilots looked at each other. Then they looked at us reserve Skytresses. I’ll admit. A few eyes did roll. When the senior Skytresses walked away the Captain asked, “They know it’s a turkey right? It’s Thanksgiving. Not Chicken Day.” None of us said anything. After all, it was Thanksgiving. We shouldn’t be rude. Okay. We did roll our eyes a wee bit more. I couldn’t help it. We all knew Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. Those senior Skytresses knew the holiday was called Thanksgiving. Happy Chicken Day was getting on all of our nerves.
I walked around the L-1011 trying to look useful. Mostly, though, I was trying to figure out where everything was before the passengers boarded the airplane. The First Officer came up to me. He told me they were going to hold off boarding. There was a maintenance issue. He told me there was a good chance they would have to cancel the flight. Oh, how I prayed our flight would get cancelled. But as luck would have it, our extremely knowledgeable mechanics fixed the maintenance issue in record time. Before the Senior Mama’s could wish our mechanics a Happy Chicken Day, we were off to Puerto Rico.
On our drive to the hotel, the pilots asked the senior Skytresses if they knew of any restaurants that might be open on Thanksgiving. The pilots hoped everyone would join them and their families for Thanksgiving dinner. The senior Skytresses said they would ask the concierge when we arrived at the hotel. The concierge was standing by the check-in desk when we arrived. One of the Senior Skytresses informed the concierge the crew wanted to go to a really nice restaurant to celebrate our chicken day. The concierge gleefully suggested a restaurant that was open. We all decided on a time to meet in the lobby for dinner. I went up to my beautiful hotel room that overlooked the water. I remember thinking any other day this would be a fabulous layover. But, being in Puerto Rico on Thanksgiving with our snarky senior Skytresses was definitely a turkey of a trip for me.
We all met in the lobby at our designated time. We jumped into several cabs and rode to the restaurant. We reserve Skytresses huddled in one cab together. When we arrived at the restaurant we knew the concierge had diligently done his job. We were at a VERY nice restaurant. I looked at the prices on the menu when the waiter handed it to me. I was shocked. As in sticker-shock, shocked. The Thanksgiving dinner special was so expensive I actually thought in Spanish….”Dios Mios!”….my god. I looked at my fellow reserve Skytresses. They, too, were in sticker-shock, shock. There was no way I was going to pay that much for a turkey dinner. But, darn it. It was my birthday the next day. I was going to have something nice eat to make up for this lousy Thanksgiving. So, I ordered the chicken. Yessiree. Happy Chicken Day! My fellow reserve Skytresses ordered water and side salads. It was the cheapest thing on the menu. They told everyone else they weren’t hungry for anything more. I knew they were new Skytresses. They were poor. Poor and hungry. You see, they never got one bite of the cookie the senior Skytresses had brought for our chicken day. Nope. The two senior Skytresses ate the entire cookie by themselves.
I was relieved when we finally left the restaurant. Thanksgiving was almost over. The cab ride back to the hotel was something to behold. Our cab driver blared his music the entire way back to the hotel. He had all the windows rolled down because his cab didn’t have any air conditioning. Fortunately, we didn’t really notice this fact. Nope. The red ball fringe he had stapled inside the entire perimeter of cab roof distracted us. I prayed to God that he would grant me one birthday wish….. to make it back to the hotel. Thankfully, God heard my wish and granted it.
I rode up in the elevator with the First Officer and his family. His wife made a comment about it being her husband’s birthday the next day. I smiled. I told them my birthday was the next day, too. We all laughed at the birthday coincidence.
The next day I tried to keep my distance from the senior Skytresses. Wherever they were, I tried not to be. I was standing outside the galley lift doors laughing with my fellow reserve Skytresses when the two senior Skytresses turned the corner. We all went silent. The two senior Skytresses stared at me in disbelief. The senior of the senior Skytresses wanted to know why I didn’t tell them it was my birthday. I desperately wanted to tell them it was because they were so mean. Instead, I told them I didn’t want to make a big deal about it being my birthday. My two fellow reserve Skytresses were completely surprised it was my birthday. They were curious how the two Skytresses knew this information. The senior Skytresses explained the First Officer’s wife told them it was not only her husband’s birthday, but, it was my birthday, too. After the two Skytresses left, my fellow Skytress turned to me. She said if it was her birthday she wouldn’t have mentioned it to the two Senior Mama’s either. She said, “They aren’t very nice.” The other Skytress and I laughed in agreement.
The pilots were finished with their trip when we landed in Atlanta. Unfortunately, we had to keep flying. I consoled myself with the fact that my trip would be over sooner than later. The odds were, also, in my favor that I would never have to fly with these two senior Skytresses again. If I did, these two most certainly wouldn’t be the senior Skytresses. No siree bob. The REAL Senior Mama’s would be back from their holiday. These two Skytresses would be bumped back to their lowly junior status. Alleluia! My other prevailing thought was the likelihood of me having another Puerto Rico trip on Thanksgiving was slim to none. Yessiree. I would be based in Cincinnati come January. The Cincinnati base didn’t have Puerto Rico layovers.
Many Thanksgivings have come and gone since my first Skytress Thanksgiving. Like I said, most of them I have blocked out of my mind. I’ll admit, though. Whenever I spy a Thanksgiving turkey cookie, I think back to my Puerto Rico Thanksgiving. I shake my head and chuckle. I can’t help myself. I smile a great big smile. Without hesitation I laugh and think, “Happy Chicken Day!” Happy Chicken Day everyone. May you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving.