15 YEARS!

I had no idea when I left home that August morning in 2000--cavalierly waving good bye to Brittany and wishing her well at college--that when I got to Chicago later that day and began training as a Flight Attendant with United Airlines, life was going to totally different over the next 15 years than anything I could have imagined.

The six weeks of training at United's world headquarters in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, was one of the most difficult experiences of my life!  I was a fish out of water.  A late middle-aged woman who had lived a life of strict routines, I was about to embark on a trip that had me rubbing shoulders with people I would never have sought out on my own and visiting places in a capacity which was NOT all fun and games like a vacation.

Only I didn't know that then.  Good thing I had NO clue what was ahead of me or I might have decided the whole proposition was too overwhelming.  Oh sure, I had been adventuresome when I left Rawlins just exactly 32 years before to go to Denver to work at a job I didn't have yet and live in an apartment I didn't know where--and most importantly of all, meet the man who would be my husband for 29 years and the father to my six kids.  This experience going to United was a lot like that one in some obvious ways--a novice striking out into the unknown without a lot of preparation for what could possibly happen but positive it could only be great! 

Good thing I was ignorant on both counts, as each of those life-changing experiences has added the dimensions to my life that would never have been there had I not been naive enough to believe that all would be well in the end.

And once again, it was.  But it took a heck of a lot of effort and a long time to get where I finally felt like I was a viable flight attendant and not someone who was playing the part as an understudy among the professionals on board.

For years I always said every day at United as a flight attendant was a picnic.  And on the bad days it was only a picnic that got rained on.  I could always count on the sun coming out again.

As you know, that is no longer the case.  I have only been going through the motions for the past couple of years until I can get to my "amended" 15 years seniority as a flight attendant--delayed by five months because of the major layoff following 9/11.  That happens on January 6, 2016, just a little over a month after my 70th birthday--milestones both.  So, I am planning to exit the aircraft shortly after that.

For the most part my 15 years at United has been a pretty good flight.  I learned things about myself I didn't know before.  And I learned things about a lot of other things I didn't know before, too.  Some important.  Some not so important.

Originally, I had planned to exit at age 65 right after my 10th anniversary when I knew I would be awarded wings with a diamond.  I wanted that chip!  Then because things were going pretty well and my health was still excellent when I reached "retirement" age, 70 sounded doable.  However, I wasn't anticipating such a huge change when United merged with Continental.   (I think of it as a hostile take-over, not a merge.)  When it turned out to be BIG change, there has been a lot of turbulence and I am weary from trying to keep my balance in a job that changes on a daily basis.  It is really time to go!  Now I  am counting the days from my REAL 15th anniversary this month to my amended seniority next year. Roughly 150 days....

For my 15th anniversary, there was no additional diamond chip for the wings.  The wings aren't even the same as they used to be!  Instead I was directed to an online catalog with "Premiums" for service anniversary awards.  I picked a portable DVD player which arrived last week.  It doesn't have quite the sentimental value my 10th year present was (a blown glass nativity which I love to display along with the rest of my "treasures" at Christmas).  But, I didn't have a portable DVD player, and now I have one which I didn't have to purchase.  I guess it's the thought that counts.

I'll let you know when I permanently fly off into the "Friendly Skies" of the wild blue yonder.  You can be sure it will be with the sound track to Rhapsody in Blue playing in the background!

Life is good after all!