OK, if there’s that much stress and responsibility involved from time to time, where do flight attendants go to get a few moments on their own? What’s really behind those doors they key a code into and then disappear behind without so much as a glance back? Let’s start by entering the sacred confines of the “Stew Lounge,” or which later came to be more politically correctly referred to as the “Crew Lounge.”
I bet this is where most folks think we cool our heels while we wait for our next flight or where we report to work. Our “office” if you will.
This is a lot closer to reality.
Back when I started, it was actually some old mismatched furniture from a thrift store or something employees were going to throw out so they carted it downstairs and stuck it in our space. Whatever. We didn’t know better and it was home to us.
So what goes on down there? Well, it is usually below the terminal, at least 2-3 long flights of stairs down. Never an elevator or escalator. I think that’s how they get rid of the really senior flight attendants. When you can’t carry your luggage up or down any more, you have to quit.
There’s usually a bank of computers, a cube farm of sorts where these days a flight attendant signs in and checks his or her schedule and email and takes care of any business and then wanders out into the open area. Back in the dark ages you actually “signed in” physically so they could check your weight, makeup and foundation garments to make sure you were presentable. That sure wouldn’t fly now thank goodness!
There’s seating arrangements where you can visit with friends or get comfortable and wait to go to your briefing for your flight. There’s a hall to the supervisors’ offices which you avoid at all costs. Then there is the sacred wall of vending machines. And the microwave. Now we are talking home!! This is usually adjacent to the sea of Nauga Recliners. Ahhhhhhhhh, how do you spell relief? They all face the podium with the TV!
Watching TV in a stew lounge is a spectator sport. I didn’t realize we watched TV differently until I began really annoying my husband when I was home and he would just glare at me. We all comment openly and often on what is being said on the TV. We also feel compelled to discuss these topics among ourselves. It is our firm belief that we know each of the players on the screen personally and we probably know what would work best for them. It’s absolutely normal to be happily snacking on popcorn while watching Ellen when a colleague will walk in front of the TV, glance up at the guest, and utter “bitch” and just keep going while others chime in “uh-huh!” Tough crowd.
I tried to understand why we are all like this after it became apparent to me that everyone doesn’t watch TV like this, and I think it could be because we keep so many opinions filtered and quiet when working that it is just a release. Maybe it is because we spend so much time alone in hotels watching TV that we talk to it like a companion? Who knows? It’s a very fun, relaxed environment and a great way to unwind when you stop in mid-day.
I am mindful, though, that the lounge is not a completely sexually equal and evolved environment even in these modern times. Oh I know men all over have this glorified idea of spending a few hours downstairs in a stew lounge. Ask a male flight attendant, though. We women are just as guilty as any majority in power at being inconsiderate and forgetting there are members of the opposite sex around. People just adjust their pantyhose and bras and blouses in the lounge where the urge hits them. It’s not pretty I guess if you were to notice. I think we all get so used to not noticing that it never comes up as an issue. It’s sort of like not noticing the incessant “checking the package” in pro baseball on national TV in the batter’s box. Whatever. We’re family down there.
The announcements in a stew lounge don’t resemble reality as most folks would see it either. Just sitting in one of our international lounges you’ll hear amazing announcements as they call for the briefings for exotic destinations worldwide. What defies reality, though, are the last minute swaps. You can be just killing time reading and hear an announcement asking if anyone wants to swap their Rio for Madrid departing today? A crew member flying Madrid has a great friend on the Rio trip and they want to fly together. Sure why not? It usually works out. I mean I get on the plane, I close the door, I fly for 8-10 hours, I open the door and I get off the plane. All good to me! We all know how much fun it can be to end up on a trip with a great friend. That’s more important.
Bottom line is you descend into a crew lounge at your own risk and your skin thickens on the way down. It is not a reality based world down there, but we aren’t exactly taking a break from a reality based profession I’ve come to realize.
Whitefish Dog and Home 