I was on a layover in Tampa at the end of August, I woke up early and went on a sweaty humid run along the beach came back to my room and made some oatmeal, it was a typical morning of my flight attendant layover life. All I wanted to do was shower and watch a TV show for my remaining time in Florida. When I came back to my hotel room, my phone buzzed with a new e-mail. I knew today would be the day I got the dreaded news, but I was still hoping things would somehow be different. There it was furloughed. In just a matter of weeks, I would be unemployed. I sat in my hotel room and was numb. My friends at work were texting me in disbelief. The job that I have been doing for seven years was saying goodbye to me, at least temporarily. I knew it was coming and I know it won’t last forever, but when I saw it in writing I was crushed.
When I first started my career I had just graduated college and was clueless on the direction my life would take. I had no idea what my life or career would look like as a flight attendant. I wasn’t one of those people who always wanted to be a flight attendant, this is a career that I fell into and one that I fell in love with.
Thanks to a little virus we’d all rather not speak by name (Voldemort vibes), I knew that keeping my job was a question that was up in the air. My job changed significantly during the pandemic, I was no longer serving people, I was now a mask enforcer, which sucked! People traveling were more on edge than ever. The normal travel stressors were complied by additional tension because of the pandemic. I never respected essential workers more, I learned first hand that working during a global pandemic is draining. I would come home from work not only physically tired but also mentally exhausted (don’t get me started on all of the maskne I had).. For the first time in seven years I wasn’t in love with my job, which was a shock.
I was delusional and hopeful during the month of September hoping a miracle would happen and congress would pass a PSP law that would allow me and 8,000 flight attendants to keep our jobs. I remember calling the Illinois senators and congressmen pleading with them to take action whenever there was a new pandemic bill brought to the table. I went to a picketing event in Chicago to urge congress to pass a relief bill. If you want to hear me be interviewed on NPR, check it out here. https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=911349891:911349892
Towards the end of September I began to lose faith in the government and started to focus on appreciating my last layovers and enjoying my final trips with my amazing co workers. My last trip before furlough was a three day trip with all women who were also getting furloughed. We laughed the entire three days and had the best time together, it was the perfect end of a chapter that I’ll never forget.
Fast forward to now, December.
It’s safe to say looking back that I needed a break. Many flight attendants took leaves of absences during the pandemic because of how exhausting and taxing it was, but I kept on working. I’m actually thankful to have a break from work for awhile, especially during the height of the pandemic. I thought that working March-September was stressful, I cannot imagine what it’s like now with the number of cases being at the peak. I’ll be receiving furlough pay until February (based on my seniority) and I’ve never been more grateful to have this financial cushion.
If I could say anything about the past year it would be that it was ~unexpected. Could any of us truly predict a global pandemic? (don’t answer that if you’ve read anything ever because yes, it was predicted). But none of us really saw this thing coming. So when I lost my job a bunch of people have asked “what’s next?” Perhaps I should ask them the same thing. The truth is none of us knows. If I could take an ounce of wisdom from the past year it would be to expect the unexpected. Since my last day of work at the end of September my time off has flown by! If you want to see what I’ve been crafting and cooking during my time on the ground be sure to follow me on Instagram :)
