Independent Women's Forum
Mailbag: Ugly Flight Attendants, the Hillary Book, and More
The ’Bag is full!
First, more letters on my plaints about surly U.S. airplane service by ancient, haggard flight attendants who would have been retired long ago were it not for unions and militant feminism (See my "Why Are Airline ’Flight Attendants’ So Awful--and So Ugly?," June 27, and this column by Mark Steyn making the same point). By the way, I do not think that all old ladies, even old feminist ladies, are ugly--click here for my description of Gloria Steinem as "fetching").
Inky reader K.H. wrote last week to speculate that I myself might be a fat, bald, 40-something man (see the Mailbag for June 30). I assured her that I’m neither bald nor a man, and that I’m not too fat.
So now K.H. is back, assuring me that she was thinking about Mark, not me:
"I had a picture of Mr. Steyn in my head since you linked to him, and he is definately on the heavier side and certainly older than 40. I don’t recall him being balding, though. Rest assured, that I do believe you are female, even though for now I have to take your word for it since there are no pictures to go with the names.
"Again to reiterate, as long as a person is well-groomed and polite, I don’t see why attractveness is a requirement for the job of flight attendant. In fact, one of the best plane rides I took was to Las Vegas, on Southwest. One of the attendants was definately over 40, a big blowsy bleached blonde with lots of red lipstick. She was extremely funny and personable and made the trip fun. She did a fantastic imitation (verbal!) of Marilyn Monroe. She also gave us great service and deftly handled a rowdy group of drunks. Should she not have the job she did so well because she wouldn’t look good in a mini?
"The other problem with your remarks is that if there are not enough ’executive’ jobs to move older women out of the attendant job, what would the airlines do with them? If they create ’executive’ positions for every attendant than the airline will become bloated and top heavy and require the assistance of the bankruptcy laws to remain afloat. Are you suggesting that firing someone based on their age as the way to go? If the attendant is doing the job well, I don’t see too many people in the public agreeing with you here. Again, here you are giving the rad fems (whom you usually rightly deride) a lot of ammo....
"I do not have any nostalgia for how the airlines used to be run....[A]irfare was ridiculously priced so that only businessmen with expense accounts and the wealthy could afford it and not because the ride itself was wonderful.... When that was the case, many young women took the job in hopes of becoming some executive’s Mrs. Nowadays, I doubt the pretty young things would like to bother with the (hopefully not unwashed) masses.... Too bad they had to let all of us plebian slobs travel at reasonable cost and ruin everything!"
Ah, K.H., I’m sure that many flight attendants who don’t look like Angelina Jolie do a great job--and I would have written less grumpily had the attendants on my last transcontinental flight been among them. Your bleached blonde sounds like a heroine, and I look forward to having her in attendance the next time I fly Southwest.
Yes, times have changed. Back in the old days, being young and glamorous was in the stewardess job description--it was right in the contract when you signed up for the job. When age 40 rolled around, you knew that if you hadn’t been promoted, it was time to think about a second career, just as showgirls, fashion models, actresses, and athletes do nowadays at even earlier ages. Then, thanks to feminism and unionization, the rules changed, and we’ve got what we have now. Some older flight attendants have such great personalities and offer such professional service that we wouldn’t trade them for Jolie herself in a uniform. Others, many others, just aren’t so great. And yes, this is the price we plebes pay for getting to fly at rock-bottom prices. The airplane in econo-class is the new Greyhound bus. But mightn’t I be allowed to hanker every now and then for the glamorous days of yore when even coach passengers donned their best suits for traveling and were waited on hand and foot by beautiful, smartly dressed people?
