Me as a flight attendant? No.

As I was cleaning out my old room last weekend I found some old photos of me that I needed when I was applying for a job as a flight attendant. I think it was for Eastern Airlines. I was 18 or 19. They were images of me in a tan suit.

I remember that time. I went to the airport, met in a private classroom with many others and we had some sort of class and lecture. I never did get the job, thank god, and I think I know one reason.

We had a questionnaire, some sort of psychological thing and I was too honest on it. One question asked, “If you had the opportunity to be at a party meeting new people or staying home and reading a book, which would you choose?” I chose the book. Which of course is the total opposite of a flight attendant job. But that was the truth.

I’m still not sure why I wanted to be a flight attendant. Maybe I wanted to travel the world.

I a friend, also named Tom, who was a flight attendant. He traveled to exotic places all the time – mostly the far east. He was a runner, and he would tell me, “I ran on the Great Wall today” or “I jogged through Tokyo yesterday.” Things like that.

But it was a lot of work and travel. He lived in Miami but was based in Hawaii, so before he even set out on his job/journeys he had to travel thousands of miles to just get to work. He also didn’t make a lot of money. I would complain about things like, “I spent almost $35 for lunch today!” And he would say, “I don’t even make $35 a day.”

I am glad I never got the flight attendant job. Who knows where I would be now. But it was nice seeing those old photos of me, it brought back so many memories of my late teens.

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