Thursday, November 01, 2007

Temporal Obligations

On the flights where there are two FAs, when one does the safety briefing, the other one demonstrates what the first one is talking about. I say, "In case of a bad thing, oxygen masks drop on your head," and the other FA holds up the bad thing mask. There are two ways this can go wrong. If you're demonstrating, you have to keep up with the FA that's speaking. For me, that's a small thrill that goes back to my theater days... dashing back to the galley to drop the mask and grab the seatbelt, knowing I've got seven words till I have to be in place and smiling. If you're speaking, you just have to go easy on the FA in the front who's dashing and grabbing. Occasionally, you'll get together with the other one with demands:

FORWARD: Can you do the seat cushion part between the mask and seatbelt part so I can have time to get there?
AFT: Yeah, but you have to do first class.
FORWARD: D'OH!

I usually try to time things so that the forward has enough time to get in place. And sometimes you'll get these FAs that just don't realize that the word should be suited to the action. They'll insist that you don't have to wait for them to get in place. "You just keep going! I'll get there!" This last guy I flew with totally did his own thing. He's showing you the seatbelt as I'm explaining how to tighten the mask. He's showing you four fingers to indicate that there are four exits while I'm explaining how the seatbelt works. And somewhere in the middle, he points to something on the briefing card and then to the overhead panel. Never did figure out what that was.
And on a completely unrelated note: once I flew with a guy who was born and raised in Utah. And when he made announcements, he pronounced the word 'oxygen' all wrong. 'Hoax-ygen,' he said. And when I called him on it, he insisted it was because of his transatlantic accent. Said oxygen fine in person. Didn't say anything else funny over the interphone. Just 'hoax-ygen.' It was like getting poked in the eye with an eye-poking stick every time he said it.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So First Class is a bad thing? L.M.

6:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How do you cross the Atlantic to get to Utah from Utah?????
sandtalker

9:42 PM  

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