Youth and beauty
Southeast Asia
I AM TRAVELING from Seoul, Korea to Vientiane, Laos, the start of a vacation that will take me from the Plain of Jars in Laos to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the tunnels of Cu Chi in Vietnam. I am flying on Jin Air, a Korean airline I have never heard of. It is a 6-hour flight to Laos and the plane is full.
After the service, I walk back to the galley and start talking to the flight attendants. They are darling- young, beautiful, friendly, dressed exactly alike in their casual uniforms of lime green shirts and jeans, hair pulled back in big butterfly barrettes. They are tiny- not just thin, but tiny! I compliment them on their cute uniforms, how nice that they can wear jeans to work. They all laugh and say the wedge-heeled shoes they are required to wear are really uncomfortable.
I tell them I fly for Delta. They all look at me in surprise. “You flight attendant?” one asks. “Yes, yes,” I answer. “You not in training department?” her coworker asks. “Oh no, I fly the line,” I reply, an aviation term meaning I actively work as a flight attendant in the air. They ask me how old I am and I answer truthfully. “Ohhhhhh,” they all murmur. I am twice the age of these girls, old enough to be their mother.
Their shock amuses me. I know many if not most airlines in Third World countries force flight attendants to quit or transition to ground jobs at age 30. They want their cabin crew to be eternally young and beautiful. It was once this way in the States, we couldn’t be older, or married, have husbands or kids, or less than perfect figures. We couldn’t be men or minorities. All that changed decades ago. Now all we have to be is willing and dedicated.
The next airline I fly is Lao Airlines from Vientiane to Phonsavan, Laos. I talk to the flight attendants briefly, as this is only a 2-hour flight. They are welcoming and polite, but they look puzzled when I introduce myself as a Delta flight attendant. They also ask how old I am. I deduct 10 years from my age. “Ohhhhhh,” is all they say.
Cambodia Angkor Air from Phonsavan to Phnom Penh is the next airline I fly. Again, I chat with the flight attendants. These girls also look at me quizzically when I tell them I fly for Delta. “You FLY?? You not in office?” one asks, surprise all over her face. I answer affirmatively and we talk a bit, flight attendant things like where are you based? How long have you been flying? How many hours do you fly each month? Is this your last leg (flight)?
They are very curious about me, my seniority, my schedule. They also ask how old I am. I knock an additional 10 years off my age, so now I am 20 years younger than I actually am. They’re young, naive, and all white people probably look alike to them. Still they look at me in amazement.
I start to get a little defensive. “Being a flight attendant is a really good job in the United States,” I explain. “You make a lot of money. People don’t quit.” “Ohhhhhh,” is all they say.
The next airline is Vietnam Airlines, Delta’s Skyteam partner. Of course I introduce myself to the flight attendants, one of whom is a young man. We are excited to talk airline talk because after all, through the Skyteam alliance, we are family! The flight attendants tell the purser, who then comes back to say hello to me.
I am surprised to see she is older than the other two, confident and self-assured. She asks how old I am, and I tell her the truth. “How old are you?” I ask in return. “52,” she replies unapologetically. Now it’s my turn to be surprised.
Vietnam Airlines obviously values experience.
