Around the World in a Bad Mood! by Rene Foss Page B

they both agreed it couldn’t hurt to take a chance on going back. After all, the man in personnel told my mother she was exactly what they were looking for. Now that the scar was gone, why wouldn’t they take her?
    When I first heard this story I was amazed by my mother’s tenacity. It took courage to go back after she had been rejected, particularly in that day and age when most women just accepted their lots in life and had very few choices—especially when it came to careers. In any case she went back the next day and showed the man how well the cream worked. Between that and my mother’s charm she got herself a fine little job with the airline that lasted eight wonderful years. It was a job she would have kept forever, but the airline forced her to quit when she married my dad in 1959.
    As a child I heard a lot of stories about the “good ol’ days” and one of my favorites is the one about my mother’s friend who was a captain. They would try to get on the same flights because they always had so much fun together; one of the things they liked to do was bid trips out to the West Coast. While they were flying they discovered that they passed right over North Dakota, which was my mother’s home state. Her pilot friend figured out how he could pass right over the family farm, so they would tell my grandmother in advance what time they would be flying by and my grandmother would stand out in the backyard and wave her dish towel. Then Mom’s captain friend would make some kind of crazy announcement like, “We’re now flying over the Peace Garden State, North Dakota. If you look out the right side of the aircraft you can see one of the finest women in the state outside her farm, waving her yellow dish towel, sending you her greetings from the farm!” If that happened today someone would probably report them to the FAA or the CIA or AA.
    I’ve read some of my mother’s diaries that she kept throughout her career and I find it fascinating that I’m flying some of the same routes that she flew, doing the same hard work she did nearly fifty years ago. The major difference is that back in her era they seemed to have a lot more fun! There seemed to be more camaraderie. Maybe it’s because the airlines were smaller back then. Maybe it’s because the industry was new then. Or maybe it was just the way my mother told the stories that made it sound as if they all enjoyed their lives so much. Of course, today we still have fun on the job but it seems to be a different sort of fun than they had. I guess you could say this about a lot of things.

Layovers
    L IKE I SAID, times have changed. Nowadays air travel is more like a living hell than a glamorous, elegant experience. The airports are overcrowded, as are the flights, people are impatient, and it’s next to impossible to provide the service that people expect. Usually there is some type of delay. Recently I was standing behind a man in line at the ticket counter and overheard the following conversation:
    M AN: Well, why is the flight delayed?
    A GENT: Weather.
    M AN: You know I find that hard to believe. The girl who was here before you just made an announcement, not even ten minutes ago, saying it was a mechanical delay. Now I don’t think you’re being honest with me and I want to know the truth—right now! Is it a mechanical delay or a weather delay?
    A GENT: It’s both.
    I feel sorry for people who have to travel for work. I can’t imagine screwing around all day trying to get somewhere for a business meeting. I mean, the travel in itself is daunting enough, and then upon arrival having to go deal with clients or business makes it all worse. No wonder everyone is so miserable when they travel. At least after I’ve suffered through a twelve-hour day of travel I’m done! I don’t have to concern myself with any other business matters because I am on my layover. One of the