This weeks Crew Brief is with Bobby. He writes a super funny, informative flight attendant blog, “UpUpandaGay.” He is also one of my twitter friends, be sure to check out his tweets!

The Flying Pinto: What is your story? How long have you been flying? What did you do prior?

Bobby: My story is a strange one! I graduated college in 2005 with a degree in Mass Media Communication. Though I had experience in the entertainment industry, working for Warner Brothers Television, I was having a string of bad luck locating a job. I moved to Los Angeles for a job that went bust within 2 weeks. Jobless in LA a friend of mine who was a flight attendant recommended the job to me. Growing up I wanted to be a pilot and thought this could be fun for a few years. I did some research, mostly on flightattendants.org and applied to Republic Airways. I was hired for Class 5 at Republic Airlines. Talk about seniority! I was based in DCA which was the deal breaker. Though I was #25 in base, I couldn’t afford to live there. A friend of mine at Republic was a furloughed US Airways flight attendant and mentioned they were hiring mainline flight attendants in Phoenix, since the merger with America West created a need for FA’s. I flew to Phoenix and was hired on the spot. I was “The New US Airways Class 1.” After flying under the America West Airlines work rules for a few months it made me dislike the job. Reserves were truly worked to the bone and taken advantage of. I transferred to US Airways’ Corporate Headquarters as a Coordinator of HR Programs. Then, 6 months later a position opened which I jumped on; I was promoted to an Analyst in InFlight Policies & Procedures. At age 23 and with 1 year flying experience I was now part of the team developing the flight attendant bible. After a change in management and a few signs things were headed down hill, I applied at a new start up company. I was hired in October 2007 as an “InFlight Team Leader,” 2 months after the company’s launch date, into FA class 6 (regaining my Republic seniority) and I’m about to celebrate my 2 year anniversary.

Bobby: Oh no! You’ve opened the can and you might not be able to close it! Biggest passenger pet peeve is those who don’t listen to information regarding the inflight service and products offered. It seems you can make PA announcements and direct them to the service page in the magazine to inform them that you offer “orange, apple, cranapple and tomato juice” but someone will undoubtedly ask for pineapple for guava. Of course, you only encounter these people on the short flights and never on the longer ones making your 20 seconds per passenger ratio erode right in front of you as you have to re-explain what you offer. So, I guess, generally, people who just don’t listen! As for a crew pet peeve, that’s a hard question! I guess those pilots who constantly need to use the restroom. They ALWAYS need to use it right in the middle of service when everything is out and in the aisle and working the way it should, just to throw a wrench in the whole process! They should required to wear catheters!

Bobby: This isn’t so much bizarre as it is a freaky twist of fate.

I was working a flight from Phoenix to Boston, working First Class, and this 30-something year man boarded and sat in 1F. About 5 minutes later this older lady sat in 1D. They obviously didn’t know each other. Once inflight, the older lady took a liking to the cashews we were serving in First class and kept asking for more, at the same time, the guy next to her wanted to keep the gin & tonic flowing and reassured me he wasn’t driving home, his wife was picking him up.

The older lady then started a conversation with this man about how long he had lived in Boston, etc. He got to talking about growing up in Boston and how he was distant from his parents because he had a Nanny, Nancy, and how she raised him primarily but he was unable to locate her since the day the family decided she was no longer needed. He finished his story and turned to the older woman and asked what she did for a living. She responded as saying she was an Administrative Assistant now, but she, herself, was a Nanny in the past and asked this man if he was about 34 years old. Shocked, he responded yes. Exactly 34. She then named the town this man grew up in, and asked if that was here he was from. Again shocked, he said YES. He then questioned her where she was getting these guesses from and how they’re so right on, she turned to him and said “I’m Nanny Nancy.”

20 years later, on a flight from Phoenix to Boston, in front of their flight attendant, they reunited. She was flying home to Boston after visiting her extended family and he was flying home.

It was bizarre to watch the revelation unfold. As they both started to realize who each other was. It was quite the event!

Bobby: Motrin to fight those delay headaches, don’t lie.. you get them too! They come on when you think about what the pax are going to say to you when they find out you’re on a ATC hold for 2 hours.

An inflatable pillow for commuting.

An eye mask, for those day sleeps or when you get that ONE hotel room with the light from the hotel sign shining right into it!

Eye drops, to combat those red-eyes I get when the stress level rises every asks me “what do you have to drink?”

Hand sanitizer. Enough said!

Pens. Though I can’t seem to hold onto them for a reason.

A camera. You never know who you might meet.

Bobby: Lihue, Kauai. I had a few layovers there with US Airways and I fell in love. The beaches are true beaches with trees, branches and rocks everywhere. They’re not crowded, actually, there probably isn’t even anyone else on the beach other than you. It’s so relaxing and quiet. You can walk around the island and find some fun places to shop or eat, within walking distance if you want to. But if you want to stick to your resort and beach, you can do that just as easily. To me, that’s truly paradise.

Bobby: Well, why don’t I let him answer this question.

Sebastion: I know that flying makes him happy, so I have accepted that it’s what he does. I’ll be honest: it’s nice having the apartment to myself sometimes, but I won’t say it isn’t lonely a lot of the time. It can be rough when he is away for up to 6 days (on a bad week), but every time he walks through that door after a trip, my heart still leaps a little bit with the love that I know binds us. Every return is a new chance for us to catch up and really just bond again. I love him and will support him through all of his endeavors be them at home or 35,000 feet.

FP: Oh, I love Sebastion! What a great support system you have! We all need that in our lives! What is your best travel tip?

For regular paying travelers, when an airline says to check in 2 hours prior to departure they mean it! Though there might not be a line at the ticket counter, that’s not always true for TSA. Many don’t realize that airlines don’t have control over the screening checkpoint and can’t always rush passengers through. Most airlines don’t hold flights for TSA delays either. It’s best to be there early, checked in and waiting for the flight to board.

Thanks again Bobby, I love your blog and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you better!

If you are a flight attendant and want to be a part of my “Crew Briefing” series, email me at [email protected]