9/11

Abby

"The life jackets are under your seats. Remember to help yourselves before helping your neighbour. That is all, have a great flight," The automated voice finished over the plane's loud speakers as I finished doing the hand signals and motions. I had the best job in the world as a flight attendant. I had dreamt about it for years since I loved to travel and be around people, who were always so happy to get to their destinations. The job had tons of benefits, I had gotten to travel to most states and have seen more than most in my young years. Sure, there was a risk that something could go wrong but that was a one in a million chance and I was willing to take that chance. 

I welcomed and smiled at guests on the plane as I headed back to my seat with the other flight attendants. The pilot informed us that he was getting prepared for take off, which meant that we had to get to our seats. I made sure all passengers had their seat belts on and electronic devices were off as I passed row by row, on my way to me seat at the very back of the plane. 

As I arrived, John, our pilot for this flight came over the speaker, "It is currently 8:14 am in Boston. Please prepare for take off to Las Angles." I buckled up my seat belt a rested my head back, silently sighing to myself. I loved the feeling I got in my stomach when the plane took off towards the sky. Having the seats in at the very back of the plane was my favourite place for the take off. You really got the experience of gravity pulling you down as the planes applied force overpowered the gravity, bringing you upwards.

I smiled at Jannet, who sat across from me. We both began this job a few years ago, where we were just rookies. Usually rookies would never be put together to serve a flight, but we were considered a special exception. Seeing as we both aced our courses in university, interviewed well, and were at the top of our class when we were training with this company for our job, there was no question that the both of us were more than capable to work as a team. Ever since then the two smart, shy girls, became instant best friends. We worked every single flight together and spent our off days in beautiful cities, touring, shopping and experiencing life. Neither Jannet nor I have ever flown without the other, heck we spent so much time together that last year we decided that we might was well move in together. Since we travel so much, we spend a bunch of time in hotels. A little apartment as our home base was perfect, so we packed up all our stuff, dropped it off in a cheap Boston place, and hit the air again, travelling and working. 

My best friend smiled back at me and gave me the thumbs up. I returned the signal to her. It was our little preflight check in. Take off can be a scary experience for a lot of flights, Jannet and I know all to well of some flying mishaps, and a little reassurance is always much appreciated. Being calm and on the same page is crucial, which is why we were constantly checking to make sure we were good. 

With ease the plane did it's take off and levelled out. Once we began cruising the seat belt light went off, indicating to Jannat and I that our work has begun. We both rose to get the drink cart, which we would use to walk down the isle and serve drinks to our customers. Jannet and I had become old pros at this. We quickly assumed our positions, I walked backwards as she pushed the cart, making our way to the front of the plane to which we would then progress to the back. I greeted the first row with the typical scripted sentence that I have said millions of times. 

"Hi," cue super sweet and kind smile, "Can I offer you a drink today?" I asked in a cheerful voice, ensuring that I looked friendly and was smiling. Jannet could attest, when we were originally training for this position with our current company, our boss would constantly remind us to smile. Regardless if you had the most genuine smile on, or were putting up a fake happy facade he always wanted more of a smile. Our boss was a happy guy, but his obsession with smiling was excessive. He loved to remind us how this was about the customer's experience, how they would be heading to or from a vacation or a business trip, and how a little flight attendant shouldn't be a reason to ruin their trip. We had to be happy and smiling and start, or end, things off on a good note. So, that's what we did, smile, smile, smile. I turned to Jannet and smiled. She gave me a toothy grin back.