**THIS CONTEST IS OVER**
Since it’s that time of year, Harper Collins and I have teamed up to do a book giveaway. Seriously what traveler can’t use a new book? What if I told you I had a box of 11! And one MIGHT be an autographed copy of my book, Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers? Now we’re talking, right?!
An excerpt from my book:
“Even after just a few months on the job, the main question I’d learned to dread was, ‘What do you do for a living?’ The moment I smile and say I’m a flight attendant, I find myself holding my breath. Without fail, there’s a two-second pause, which is always followed by one of two responses. The good response is full of excitement and ends with a question mark: ‘I’ve always wanted to be a flight attendant!’ The good response leads to a very nice conversation about travel, which then leads to other interesting topics related to travel, and maybe even plans to meet for lunch next time I’m in town. The rest of the time, it begins with the same four words: ‘On my last flight…” Then I’ll hear a very bad story about a flight from hell. Needless to say, the conversation never goes so well after the bad response. How can it? I’ve just been linked to the worst flight this person has ever had!”
I thought we could have some fun with this. Complete the following sentence, “On my last flight….” (Keep it nice!) by 5 PM EST on Friday, December 21, 2012 and you’ll be entered to win the following books:
- The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethelehem, by Ken Budd
- In the Bag, By Kate Klise
- I, Iago, by Nic Galland
- The Thirteen, by Susie Moloney
- Losing Clementine, by Ashley Ream
- The Boy who Stole the Leopard’s Spots, By Tamar Myers
- The Cougar Club, by Susan McBride
- A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
- Spin, by Catherine McKenzie
- Being Lara, by Lola Jaye
- Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Fee
Heather Poole 
On My Last Flight…My 5 year old daughter screamed when I pushed the call button because I told her that SHE shouldn’t push it because it was the eject button.
On my last flight, the crew rapped the safety procedures to the theme of the fresh prince of belair opening song!
On My Last Flight, I promised myself I’d never do it again unless I had to get to my kids in an emergency.
one flight attendant slammed the overhead bin door and awakened the entire cabin. The other flight attendant gave me a forlorn look when I asked if he could teach her how to close the bin door. He said I was preaching to the choir!!!!
On my last flight I flew on an airline other than the one I work for. When I told one of the F/A’s that I worked for one of the other guys and how much I enjoy flying with them, she promptly told the rest of the cabin crew that I was “one of them” and she bought me drinks the entire flight. the camaraderie they showed me was very uplifting and heart warming! I love F/A’s!
REALLY? Might have to try that sometime. 🙂
On my last flight I fell asleep before I could see the end of the new Spiderman movie.
On my last flight I…..
had someone in my traveling group get swabbed by the TSA
On my last flight I non-rev’d/family emergency, going to say farewell to my grandfather. EVERY SINGLE PERSON with whom I had an interaction on that flight, from gate agents to the F/As to the pilots were nothing but caring, reassuring, calming and catering. It made the start of a very emotional trip all that more bearable and I thank every one of them from the bottom of my heart.
Wonderful to hear
A woman in first class had a meltdown because someone had put their bag in the overhead bin over her seat while her little dog in its carrier whimpered. Yeesh!
My last flight I was exhausted!! My BFF Tom had just died from a surprise asthma attack & I was flying home with him to NYC; he was in air cargo, I was in coach.
The last time I saw him was three days before. We had always shared books & the main character in the book I was then reading strongly reminded me of him so I told him. On the last day I saw Tom alive he asked for the book but I had promised it to a client for her vacation so I didn’t give it to him.
I had 10 pages to go & I thought I’d finish the book on the train to my clients office in Oakland but I ran into another client so as promised, I had to surrender the book in Oakland, never having finished it.
That was the last Friday of Tom’s life; he died Monday. At the SF Airport, I go to the bookstore- I MUST have that book now! The main character reminded me so much of Tom, I never finished it & I had an upcoming six hour flight!
I found the book & bought all six copies! On the aircraft, after a few Bloody Mary’s, the girlfriend I was traveling with needed some sleep- we were all so exhausted! Losing your best friend at age 28 out of the blue was beyond emotional and draining; she went to sleep & I pulled out the book to finish the last ten pages.
No words in any book could have captured my exact feelings at that moment at 37,000′ as this book did. The last sentence of this book?
O God–please bring him back! I shall keep asking You.
As my best friend laid in air cargo, these are the words that punctured my heart- every single one of them written perfectly for me for that exact moment! I loved my best friend Tom. He was so special, so good natured. He loved me, he laughed at me, he cheered me on, he was proud of me. I was lucky to have known him cause I know people like him and his fictional character, Owen Meany, exist.
The Book?! A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving.
Here’s to good love!!!
You make me want to read that book again
On my last flight…I went to Seattle to visit my best friend.
On my last flight at Christmas, some lady asked if she could have my window seat, so (in the spirit of Christmas) I obliged and took the center seat. Big mistake. If she wasn’t getting up every 20 minutes to use the rest room, she was getting up to go walk around, talk to her friends, get something out of the overhead bin… I finally asked an FA if there was a spare seat anywhere else on the plane (after I explained my good intentions) and the promptly moved me down the back of the plane where I was able to stretch out on not one, but three seats! (virtually unheard of at Christmas!). Needless to say, I gave them a glowing review because they made my flight so much easier. So lesson for everyone. If you’re going to be up out of your seat every 15 minutes, don’t ask someone for their window seat! Sit in the aisle seat!
I sat next to a crying 2 year old who wouldn’t stop crying for 2+ hours and kept kicking me in her sleep on a 10+ hour trans-pacific flight.
On my last flight… We were delayed due to thunderstorms. Then when we finally boarded, I opened the tray table in front of my daughter’s seat to find vomit down the side of the table and all down the side of the seat in front of her! Gross. It was as if someone threw up and just closed the tray table. I got the flight attendant and the crew promptly cleaned it up with disinfectant wipes, she even wiped our seats and armrest, then she left extra for me in case I was feeling extra icky. Needless to say we didn’t use our tray tables that flight!
I was flying home from Cincinnati back to Minnesota on my last day of work since I had gotten laid off (site closed) after 18 years but still offered to go and finish up my project… I hid my face under my hoodie and did the silent ugly cry the whole flight home. Now my next flight to Vegas for vacation in January will be a happy flight, and would be made even better if I could win a copy of your Cruising Attitude book!
On my last flight, I smiled and said ‘Hello ‘ to you during boarding. When you asked me what I wanted to drink, I took out my earphones and answered politely. When we were making our descent, I turned off my ipod without needing to be asked. When we landed, I stayed seated until the seat belt sign came off and waited for other passengers to get their luggage.
When it was time to deplane, I smiled and thanked you for a wonderful flight.
(alarm clock rings, interrupting the dream)
Ok, Heather, wake up now – you’re going to be late for work!!!!
HAHA!
On my last flight, I used GoGo to argue with a pundit about Obama’s speech on Friday afternoon and got followed by @theflyingpinto, who is awesome (but still not quite as awesome as you).
I think she’s awesome too
YOU WON! Send me your address. Skydoll123@Yahoo.com
On my last flight, we had a two hour delay because there was no one to lad the bags, they sold our crew rest seats, and I was so desperate for a nap I slept in the lav.
On my last flight I missed a meal because the flight attendant very kindly asked me if I’d prefer to sleep through meal service, as I was dropping off. I *really* appreciated the rest!
On my last flight a fellow crew asked me “What is the difference between a passenger and a jet engine?” and I said I don’t know her answer was “The jet engine stops whining at the gate”
OMG, I’ver never heard that one! I’m sharing. Thanks for the laugh.
On my last flight…my DH gave up his first class seat to a returning military soldier with the same last name; a thank you for serving our nation. When he walked back to coach the attendant told everyone what he did and the other passengers applauded him.
Dear Husband rocks! What a great guy
On my last flight…from Cairo to Dulles, I was detained by customs for keeping a freaking BANANA from the meal service!!!
Is that a banana in your pocket or….Never mind
On my last flight I had my seat mate and 2 flight attendents fawning over pics of my 6 yr old nephew. Later on, I handed out Xmas treats to them in the galley and one of them told me she was from Newtown CT. We talked for awhile about the tragedy in ct (on the way to ct) and about life in general and craziness. I actually felt welcomed in that galley and thought of Heather when I told a passenger to “push” on the lav door.
LOL. No way. Did you really say push? I LOVE THAT.
I sure did:)
On my last flight… I felt no jet lag because I was on a carbon fiber reinforced plastic plane…. Dreamliner.
LUCKY YOU
We are ALL the lucky generation. If we look back, it was in early 1900 the first airplane flew and during the last 100 years or so Airplane/aviation has come a long way!
On my last flight…my seatmate pointed to the front of my shirt unbuttoned and said, “Nice bra.”
NO WAY! LOL
On my last flight (Australian carrier), I sat in between a guy (window) who kept ordering beer’s & needless to say kept wanting to go to the loo! And the aisle guy sneezed & coughed each time he thought I looked slightly relaxed! The mum behind with her well-mannered kids who liked giving jolting massages with their feet at regular intervals … And the couple in front with bub who inclined their seats way back & failed to notice for 3hours, the pooey smell that permeated in their area & everywhere else! Thank goodness for headphones & the inflite movie!
On my last flight…from AMS to YVR I was detained by customs for hours because they were convinced I had weed on me!
On my last flight a older woman (granny) asked me if I snore (red eye via LAX from OGG) I just looked at her and told her I don’t know,I’m a sleep so I can’t tell,she said fine,I do too,I then told her we can make music together!
Cute lady.
On my last flight I flew from LAX back home to AMS,all by myself, and I wished I had some books to kill the time! 11 hours is a long time even if you love flying as much as I do!!
On my last flight, I nodded off, and apparently started snoring so loud, the woman next to me exclaimed “You’ve got to be kidding!!” so loud she woke up not only myself, but four other passengers.
On my last flight, I spent the entire 2 hours observing the flight attendants diligent work. I have just been offered a job with the airline and I was trying to pick up as many helpful tips as possible! As I become more nervous about training, your book was number one on my list…thank you!
On my last OPERATING flight of the year, these 2 little boys age– 4 & 5 did the OPPA GANGNUM STYLE dance for me!
On my last flight a passengers asked me why she couldnt put her baby in the overhead bin !
On my last flight…I was not upgraded to first class, but my husband was and offered it to me. I refused because he had work to do and I was just going to watch Direct TV anyway. During the flight I was thinking of how lucky I was to be married to him and decided to type into my phone the reasons why. Just then, I looked up and there he was – big smile on his face and the warm cookie from first class in hand. God, I love this man and traveling!
On my last flight (which was my first flight ever as a flight attendant), a lady came to the galley asking for a “barf bag” and puked all over another flight attendants hand and onto the galley floor, then I spent an hour in the cock pit looking at glaciers and found out that “north pole” is actually on water not land. Where does Santa live?!?
On my last flight, my little girls (3 & 5 at the time) behaved themselves and were quiet the entire flight. I was actually able to get a short nap!
On my last flight I was working as lead on an Amsterdam trip. I had a woman passenger come hunt me down in the back galley, asking if I had any snacks for her such as a loaf of bread! Not just a roll, but an actual loaf of bread! I must have given her a funny look because then she said “just one load will do, I can even split it with my son!” Definitely was one of my most random food requests!
On my last flight, I had a lovely time and wasn’t crushed by the person in front of me reclining.
On my last flight, I threw up every 15 minutes. 😦 I am not a good airline passenger.
On my last flight, I wasted nearly an hour explaining to a passenger why he couldn’t open the windows in flight…. he just didn’t get it. He ended up relating the story to some reporters when we landed and some say that’s why he lost the election…………
On my last flight (it was the first flight out 6:00 am), all I could think about was kissing my kids and wife goodbye while they were still sleeping at home. It also made me reflect on how they make it worthwhile for me to work as hard as I do…..for them.
The flight attendants were personable, kind, and had great senses of humor.
On my last flight….I ate this giant sonorian hot dog from the Houston airport. The lounge was right across from check-in yet I only had a 1/2 a hour between connecting flights. A half an hour to eat this???:
[IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Wavebacker/IMG_20120901_181825_zps527c0551.jpg[/IMG]
No….I had to cut it in half and eat it on the way home, making everyone around me jealous.
On my last flight …. I was sitting in a single jumpseat in the cabin and on landing the drop down liferaft compartment opened and passengers started to scream …. I may have been one of them …. maybe ….
On my last over the Atlantic, I spent my time in the rear galley of your favorite aircraft heather – the 767 and got to know the crew and what life is like – important to me since I’m well on my way to becoming a Commercial Airline Pilot!
On my last flight, the captain introduced himself and the fellow crew members with Star Wars names. Throughout the flight he kept making Star Wars references. Even though I am not a fan of the movie, I appreciated the humor, and it helped ease my nerves during a rough flight.
On my last flight… I was upgraded to some much needed extra leg room (which I need), and had a funny flight crew playing some jokes and having fun with the customers. Only a 2 hours flight but made it go much faster with some funny twists to the usual boring announcments.
On my last flight I also finished reading Heather P.’s book. Feeling badly that many crew members often read discarded magazines, I felt inspired to do something. So I went back to where I saw a crew member sitting down (when the fasten seatbelt sign was off, of course!) and gave it to her, telling her that I hoped that she could relate to the stories in it. She said that she had wanted to buy the book but just had not gotten around to do so and thanked me immensely for it. I wished her a Happy Holidays and told her that it would be great if she could pay it forward and pass the book to someone else when she is finished with it, which she said she would do. So, although I am sad not to have the book, giving it away made someone’s day and will continue to do so for more reads to come.
On my last flight I was coming back to the U.S. from Norway where I had been working as a snow expedition/hike guide up in the hinterlands. On one of my trips, about five hours into our trek we were set up by wolves. Not average wolves mind you, but Norwegian wolves that I’m pretty sure were cross bred with Vikings. Anyway, long story short, most of the tour group didn’t make it but after about three hours of sinew straining wrestling I managed to wear a couple of the wolves out and lash them together with rope. I then used one of the frozen bodies of a tour member as a make shift sled, tied the dogs to it, and rode that sucker back to town. One of the FAs asked what happened to the human sled, how I had tracked down his next of kind etc…and that’s when I asked if they could turn the plane around. We all had a good laugh at that one! True story.
On my last flight I flew just for the miles to advance my elite status. 4 flights and 2000 miles. All in a days work
I’d love a book! Thanks! On my last flight, the flight attendant gave me TWO packets of Biscoff cookies.
On my last flight, I once again heard that my wife wanted the window seat and I once again told her that she was welcome to the window seat in front of me – that way she’d get a head massage every now and then too (on that flight over the Arctic, I took over 50 photos, she slept)
I my last flight I was flying back from LAX to Minneapolis with a couple of Marines. We weren’t wearing our uniforms, but somehow people knew who we were. One person started buying us drinks and the next thing I knew we were home. One of the best flights I ever had!! Merry Christmas everyone, hope the world doesn’t end today!!