A Sudden Increase In Cabin Pressure

I’m a flight attendant. I’ve been called to cover a last-minute shift. I’m going over the shift with the purser. I learn that the reason I’ve been called in is that a veteran flight attendant who has been in the industry for over thirty years is no longer available.

Me: “So I see that [Veteran Flight Attendant] worked the inbound. Why aren’t they available for the outbound?”

Purser: “They’ve been… uh… removed from rotation.”

Me: “Are they sick?”

Purser: “Look, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but they’ve been removed from the rotation for a while because they… well, they snapped at a passenger.”

Me: “What happened?”

Purser: “A passenger got upset that we’d run out of her meal choice. She was all the way down in Economy, and I could hear her from Business. [Veteran Flight Attendant] said to her, “Ma’am, I said we’ve run out of chicken, not fuel. Calm the f*** down.””

I laughed out loud at the line and then felt sad that a veteran flight attendant had finally snapped after thirty years. Happens to a lot of us.