I Was a Little Nervous About Returning to the Friendly Skies
Moonlighting as a flight attendant on weekends, I had taken the last few months off from flying, but I recently went back to the friendly skies and was stricken with anxiety driving to the airport.
There are lots of things to consider, not only about my personal safety but also all the changes and rules put in place that are now an important part of my job.
There were a lot of aspects I could control, but it's the unknown behavior of passengers that was my biggest concern. Would passengers take these precautions as seriously as I would? My heart was racing, and I was actually wondering if I'd end up on YouTube for one reason or another.
Luckily the airline I work for provides us with all the tools we need, including giving us our own personal thermometers to check our temperatures regularly while on duty. I got that as soon as I checked in. There were also plenty of sanitizing wipes to wipe down everything, lots of rubber gloves, and yes, plenty of masks.
The part that made me feel the most at ease was actually seeing them clean the planes between each of our flights. It's a pretty thorough process and those responsible for it take it very seriously.
As far as the passengers, I would say the vast majority knew to do their part and took it pretty seriously. There were few that needed reminding but overall it was a pleasant surprise how calm everything was.
After taking off from Logan and being in the air for about 20 minutes, it was as if everything fell into place. My nerves about going back to work were dissipating and it was almost very "normal."
Overall, it felt good to be back. It was little extra work wiping down everything, and wearing gloves and a mask for 12 hours a day took a little getting used to, but I honestly think some of this should have been a part of the gig to begin with.