Why Do You DO That??

Very closely related to the need for doors that we disappear behind is the burning question that springs to a crew member’s lips repeatedly during their career: What on earth would posses you to do THAT? Of course that question must remain suppressed, so eventually we must disappear behind doors and curtains and roll our eyes. Yes, we think of curtains as a privacy screen. We wish the flying public would as well.

It doesn’t seem like that much to ask. After 2-3 hours of non-stop delivery of food and beverages and retrieval of trash and delivery of seconds and fluffing of blankets on a packed long haul flight, it might be a good moment to try to grab something to eat. Typically we eat in the galley, standing up and take less than 5 minutes to do so.

Anyone who has ever tried to enjoy a leisurely meal with a flight attendant knows it’s something like eating with a Dyson. We inhale our food and then just sit there. Our social skills need a little work in that department.

So we pull the galley curtain closed. Ah, privacy. We carefully peel back the foil on an entrée, or unwrap something we have thoughtfully brought from home, and prepare for a moment to ourselves. Chewing, drifting somewhere in our minds for a moment, then SWISH! Back goes the curtain with a flourish and a head pokes in. Now we never lose sight that we are at work and this is not our personal space, but when a head pops in for a coke (usually) or to come in and do “Galley Yoga” (dramatic stretching in our only space) we just quiver. Folks, we have nowhere to go. You have a seat and the aisles, we have nowhere. We just want to eat. The very best ones are the ones who look at your homemade sandwich and ask “Where did you get THAT?” I’ll admit I brought it from home and they will honestly ask if I:

Have another?
Am going to finish it?
Feel like sharing?

Oh yes they do!!

On commercial jets behind swishing curtains is where my intense respect for privacy was born that served me well when I transitioned into private aviation. I mean high profile people can never go out to eat without people watching them or feeling like they have a right to be a part of their meal. Trust me on this, nobody likes to be watched while they eat like a sitcom on TV. We are not the entertainment.

We also have curtains around the crew rest areas on long haul flights that do not have dedicated crew rest cabins. Crew rotates into those areas for a few hours to rest on 9-10 hour flights to stay fresh and for legality purposes. There is always a full compliment of working crew on deck. The curtain allows us to close our eyes in privacy and blocks out light (but trust me, not noise.) I can’t tell you how often folks whip back that curtain “just to see” what’s behind it. Sometimes they just declare “Oh! You’re sleeping!!” Well no, actually, not any more…