Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Career Advice

If you can't handle listening to a baby screaming over the hum of a jet engine without complaining rudely within earshot of the baby's parents, you should probably not be a flight attendant.
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13 comments:

kshshshshsh said...

If you complain about the people who do the thankless job of tending to you while you fly, you probably don't understand the homeless position of the people who act as your flight attendants.

He/she probably stopped the 18 people seated around you from complaining to you (or the babie's owner) to your (or their) face.

Trust me, lots of people agreed.

Not to say it's right or good, but the sound of a crying baby hits to the soul, regardless of if you're a parent or not. Evolution makes it so.

9/11/2007 2:05 AM
kshshshshsh said...

Of course, I don't know exactly what you mean by "complaining rudely".

That might change things.

9/11/2007 2:08 AM
Anonymous said...

People who can't figure out that their baby's screams annoy everyone else ten times as much as it bothers the parent, should be fined extra when flying. Especially for really long flights.

9/11/2007 8:22 AM
B.G. Christensen said...

People who believe a baby's screams annoy anyone as much as they annoy the parent have never been a parent. And people who believe the parent can do a damn thing about it are lost in the depths of ignorance.

9/11/2007 10:20 AM
B.G. Christensen said...

And it's the most basic of customer service skills to not complain about the customer where he or she can hear you. I don't care how crappy your job is, you just don't do that.

9/11/2007 10:22 AM
Julie said...

Hmmm..., yes these people definitely aren't parents and probably don't ever want to be. It is much worse for the parents, because in addition to being annoyed by a screaming baby, you have the added guilt and embarrasement of knowing that you're baby is annoying everyone around you, but despite you're very best efforts there is just sometimes nothing you can do to make it otherwise.

Most adults don't behave well when under stress, change of environment, extrememly tired, kept from being able to do what they really want to do, etc. It's funny that we expect children to behave no matter the situation.

I was lucky enough to be on a flight once were people were extrememly helpful with my craying baby and others. One of the flight attendant even took the baby from the parents and was walking up and down the aisle with her while the older sister tagged along picking up trash from everyone. Maybe we should all be more willing to help out than just complain.

9/11/2007 1:35 PM
The Weed said...

Wow. I can't believe the initial comments here! Well, having been on a flight while my child screamed and writhed uncontrollably from one agonizingly humiliating minute to the next to the next, and then watched as my wife picked her up, carried her to the back of the plane, and literally wept because she felt so bad, and then stayed there standing for an hour (and don't worry, I've spent my share of time in the back of a plane with a baby myself), I can definitely commiserate with you Mr. Fob.

Switch and anonymous, certainly "lots of people agreed" that the sound of a crying baby hits to the soul, and that it's very annoying. The parents included. It's not like the parents of a screaming baby don't pick up on the subtle reality that the child is, in fact, screaming and that it's very, very grating and completely uncomfortable for everyone around. You trust me, my friends. They do. And they are probably horrified. That doesn't change the fact that nothing can be done about it sometimes. Complaining about it just makes the parents feel more horrified than they already feel, and makes other passengers feel more crabby.

If you're a flight attendent, you shouldn't be the one complaining. Period. Hate to break it all the flight attendants out there, but being pleasant in uncomfortable situations is your job. While I can sympathize with working long hours in a thankless job (I'm a junior high teacher--'nuff said), that still doesn't change the fact that, especially in a customer service oriented profession, you need to act professionally and not complain about clients in clients' earshot.

Thankfully, in the flight I mentioned above, the flight attendants were very professional, asking what they could do numerous times, and assuring us that it wasn't our fault. That made it much easier on everybody.

Wow, apparently I had some feelings on the subject ;-).

9/11/2007 2:40 PM
Abelard Enigma said...

You used to be able to go to your doctor to get drugs to give your kids while you traveled - ah, those were the days.

[Sigh] unfortunately, those days ended even before I began my parenting :( So, I feel your pain.

9/11/2007 3:47 PM
B.G. Christensen said...

The truth is that Little Dude was actually pretty good on this flight. He only cried off and on for about forty-five minutes, which on a six-hour flight is not bad at all. It just annoys me that the flight attendants were so unprofessional about it. I'm sure the passengers around us were annoyed, but none were so rude as to complain to or in front of us.

9/11/2007 3:58 PM
TK said...

Well, I guess there's no need to ask how your flight was! :) Sorry it was less than great.

But I agree - that's really not bad for a 6 hr flight!

9/11/2007 11:11 PM
Th. said...

.

Does your anonymous come from Corvallis as well?

9/12/2007 12:26 AM
Anonymous said...

Which airlines did you fly...? :-)

9/12/2007 6:26 PM
Kengo Biddles said...

if it's any consolation, Ginta would be the Jeffrey of the flight. So a touch of crying's not that bad.

9/13/2007 12:59 AM

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