A short and sweet totally random curtain raising post today apropos of nothing.
Having spent a fair bit of time on planes lately, I wonder whether having concluded a job interview for an air cabin crew position, the interviewer points the candidate to the nearest exit. Or maybe the real test is to see if the candidate remembers how many rows between him or her and the exit.
photo from flikr, april-mo’s photostream
The things that go through one’s mind at 30,000 feet!
Actually the best flight I ever had was one from Cairns to Sydney. All the cabin crew were male and I certainly have no complaints about that. But what topped it was then the captain’s voice came over the microphone and introduced herself as “Jane”!! Certainly not common in this country.
Has this ever happened on a flight that you have taken?
Come fly with me, come fly, lets fly away…
Raising the Curtain 
That is certainly a first for me. Glad you’re doing well. Sounds like you are busy these days.
Hi Lisa, yes busy, but good busy. Enjoying the new gig, although it’s playing havoc with the writing and blogging. Hope all well in your world.
I had a female pilot once, when she introduced herself it was an odd feeling. I was not expecting a female voice, but my next reaction was, “Wow! Good for you, fly this thing!” I love the things we can accomplish as women.
I thought I was the only one who counted how many rows between me and the exit… I always count and then the thought in my mind is, “Will I actually remember how to count if this planes gets into trouble?”
Great post, hope you are well. DAF
Thanks DAF, I am well and am enjoying the new job immensly. It’s keeping me busy though and away from this blog way too much. Got to get back into some sort of regularity with the writing and commenting. Hope all is well with you :).
I have had a female pilot or two, but I’ve yet to experience an all male flight crew with a female pilot. I look forward to the day. 🙂
It surprised me, but really it should not be all that supriseworthy in this day and age. BTW, I am all for equal opportunity in the flight cabin!
All the flying I’ve done in almost thirty years, and these things never occurred to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were to ask a flight attendant how many rows between a random seat and the nearest exit on a given jet, and she (or he) would know the two closest. They are pretty special people.
They are pretty special, I agree. LOL, you probably had other more important things occupying your time, it’s just that I saw my third flight safety briefing in 2 days and the pointing always amuses me.
This certainly is a metaphor. In the US where I am sitting, if you look at the average college enrollment data it is often 55/45 or 57/43 females to males. I think we will match Australia with a female head of government in the next election. First, I have to get through this one. One aside, if the impression in your country is all of the old white guys are voting for Romney here, this old white fart has already voted for Obama. While not perfect, he has done a better job than given credit for. Take care and G’Day mate, BTG
You university data is similar to ours, although the percentages are not reflected in the upper echelons of the business world. We have about a 8-10% penetration of females on boards of directors and gender issues have now become part of the annual reporting season, at least for publicly listed companies.
As for the election, I have to say you guys sure have stamina. Our elections run for about 3-6 weeks, tops and we’ve all had enough by that stage! There is only one surety about the US election and that is I will not be the next US president :). As for white haired guys voting for Romney, I didn’t have that impression as I have a few staunchly Republican friends who are in their twenties and thirties. As with the polls, my US friend base seem equally divided on who they will vote for. Hope you are taking care yourself!
Count the rows – but remember this – the fastest way to the exit won’t be queuing for the aisle – it’s over the top of the seats in front of you (or behind). That’s what I think about on a plane, and I love to fly 🙂
Only ever a a female pilot once, and as rarely as I fly I was a bit disgusted with myself for being surprised.
Thanks for the comment and the tip about the over the seat exit strategy. I don’t usually think about what will happen in a worst case scenario, although I am curious as to how each airline tackles the mandatory safety briefing because I think most air travellers have become totally desensitized to it. Air New Zealand just released a Lord Of The Rings version of their briefing, which is very clever.
I seem to remember that an Australian airline company was one of the first in the world to have both a female captain and first officer on a flight. Should be more of it.
You might be right. That would be very cool indeed!
What?! A female pilot?! Blasphemy!
Actually I recall once being in a “nervous flyer” mode and then heard our pilot speak – she was female. Somehow, it calmed me down quite a bit.
Funny musings about pointing to the exit…if I were an interviewer I’d definitely mess around with that concept quite a bit!
Thanks for so much dropping by to comment on my blog! I think even today most people do a “double-take” when they hear a female pilot voice from the cockpit. Hopefully we are heading for a time when man, woman or Martian flying the plane won’t turn heads. Well possible not a Martain, because I think most people would want to stay within earth’s orbit when they fly (unless they are Richard Branson, of course).
Oh the things we could do and the places we could do with pointing to the exit. Dr Seuss eat your heart out!!
Martian pilot?! That’d be awesome. I hear they’re excellent navigators and hilarious entertainers. Then again, I hear a lot of things from those pesky head-voices. SHUT UP GUYS, I’m trying to comment on a blog here!
Sorry about that…
Glad ALL of you dropped by again. We are definitely an equal opportunity species blog here. Indeed, Martains do have many worthwhile talents, just take colour co-ordination as an example. Green is not the easiest colour to work with. Then there’s the art of spaceship landing in a manner that draws the least amount of earthly attention and promoting Mars as a tourist destination. ‘Take me to your leader” is a great slogan for a marketing campaign. You have to hand it to those Martians!