I was reminded by a close friend of the subtle differences between life in the UAE and what we are accustomed to. Her observations were quite astute and things that had struck US flight crews immediately. The sheer beauty and elegance of an Emirates flight crew in motion, particularly in the UAE, was notable.
My friend flew through Dubai on Emirates and had a lovely experience, of course, but could tell there was an untold backstory. Her dog is part of the surfing sensation down here in Southern California, and she had taken a cutout of him along on the journey as an ambassador. He has a large international following. What I love, and all of us do, is that she and her husband were seated across from the flight attendant at a bulkhead and engaged her in conversation like a normal human being. This may come as a shock but hardly anybody speaks to us like people. It gets lonely up there.
The dog cutout broke the ice, and they chatted during the long flight. The flight attendant seemed almost wistful as she joyfully posed with the dog for a picture, having lived in a compound for flight attendants since taking the job.
It is a prestigious position, but highly regimented. They don and remove their hats in unison during flight for different phases of flight. Their shoes and lipstick all match. I had to admit that she would be likely to see a flight attendant from my airline come down from crew rest with her hair up in a scrunchy, wearing her jammie pants to make a run for the lav. It’s ok, nobody ever recognizes us because nobody ever really looks at us, so without the uniform we are anybody!
Emirates flight attendants are a vision of composure at all times. When you see them walking through an airport it is impressive. The pilots walk in the front of the line, followed by the flight attendants in silent single file according to height.
Then there would be our crew wearing 3 different styles of uniform, calling back and forth to see who’s stopping for coffee or duty free. Less impressive.
That elegance comes at a price. They begin their career living in a highly supervised and regulated company housing unit. No wild parties, no drinking. You are released if you get pregnant and if you get pregnant outside of wedlock you get deported. So there’s that. And please don’t do a knee-jerk complaint to the airline like you might in the US if your feelings get hurt. That could cost your attendant profit sharing, paychecks and of course their job. I doubt that’s what you really intend when all you hoped for was an attitude adjustment.
Learning all of this made me grateful for our way of life and made me thirsty to learn more about life in these far reaches of the world.
On one flight down to Dubai during the Hajj, we had been briefed to be extra respectful of prayer customs while remembering our training during this important time in the region. I admit it took great courage to turn over our entire aft galley to a group of men when they had to pray and face Mecca. We stayed a respectful distance for privacy and I watched covertly, with great interest, this sacred ritual. At the same time, my heart was pounding and all of my nerves were ready. It was difficult to let that many folks gather and murmur in a foreign language. They finished and bowed deeply and returned to their seats. Our crew returned to our galley just a little enlightened.
Flights have a lot of moving parts and that one was no different. Almost an hour later, an older woman came back to the galley with her husband, in absolute distress. She was quite emotional and waving her hands while speaking rapidly in another language. Those flights carried a lot of American Military contract workers back and forth through the Middle East, and one who stopped back for coffee picked up a few words and told us she thought her husband was having a heart attack. We asked what language she was speaking and he told us she was speaking Farsi.
I was ignorant of the implications, so casually paged for anyone on the flight who could speak Farsi to help us out in the aft galley. Almost before the PA was over, one of our Sky Marshalls showed up and “asked for coffee.”
Still clueless, I poured him coffee and he started asking what the situation was with the man and woman. He asked about the Farsi. I was curious why he had stepped in. Then he told me Farsi was the language of Iran. Ohhhhhhhhhhh. We were already taking extra precautions because a medical emergency can be a diversion and we needed to heighten our situational awareness throughout the cabin when dealing with extraordinary circumstances. This added a new element to consider.
Finally a Farsi speaker appeared, and it turned out the woman was really working it hard. She thought her husband would feel better if he could be made comfortable in First Class for the rest of the flight. Came down to she was not moving and he was going to lay prone in the galley or move to First Class.
Our Sky Marshall convinced her otherwise and miraculously her husband improved.
Turns out scamming for an upgrade is an international skill and universal desire.
Whitefish Dog and Home 