"Stand-by"

Chapters 3 :

"stand-by"

Natalie got to the office hoping that Lisa made it on time for her flight schedule; she had assumed they both shared the same pick-up time.

Lisa is quite a naive girl that can be easily chewed and spit out by the seniors, this office is a tug of war.

There is so much to learn for a first time crew, most experienced flight attendants do not have time to babysit newcomers, we all learnt the hard way.

I also have my grievance in this damn office, I should have been a senior by now, instead, I have to follow orders from my classmate!

Classmate ! !!

Also irritating is that they do not have to share hotel rooms, their status is loud and clear; bull shit! For all junior crew members to respect.

However, she is no pushover, she already has the reputation of any senior's nightmare and is a bad influence on the new crew member.

She takes rudeness to another level, especially seniors trying to impress juniors as "boss".

She knows the rules and regulations at the back of her hand and can manipulate them to her advantage, she is no easy pushover.

To offend a senior; others will gang up and report bad assessments to the cabin crew manager.

Such a record hinders promotion ….there are too many clowns at this office, I can't help but wear my bitch look all the time!

My smile is reserved just for the passengers but I won't be smiling today since I will not be flying.

Being on "stand-by " is for emergency cancellation from a crew member and there will be others that the seniors would prefer to pick, especially the newcomers.

She will be sleeping at the office today. No sane senior dare call her to fly!

Bad mood

Natalie walked into the "stand-by" room. There were five other crew members, she ignored them and sat on the couch, she stretched out her legs to relax.

The chances of being called for flight is zero to none, she has earned it by being tagged a villain. It comes with the territory.

The failed promotion has dampened her passion for flying. Stand-by is for the overzealous broke newcomers!

The phone in the room rang a few minutes later.

one of the crew members answered it …..hello, Yes. . ..I need the attention of an experienced crew, please.

There is only one experienced crew here and she said her name is Natalie. . ..the crew answered.

Are you sure there's no other junior experienced crew?

None; We all are new except for Natalie.

Please tell her to report to the briefing room.

Natalie called back ….Hello, I would like to know why I am being specified to report to the briefing room since when is it a selective choice to pick a Stand-by?

Phone dead.

Natalie was furious.

The bitch hung up on me? My temper started to rise, I picked up my bag, walked out of the stand-by room and into another section of the building.

The two minutes walk is not enough to cool me down, the "Silence " tag at the door of the briefing room only infuriates me the more and I storm into the room.

Who is the senior that asked for stand-by? I called out with a foul attitude written all over me.

Jane remains seated calmly, amidst the shhhhhhh from the other crew in the background.

Natalie is smart and loud when she wants to ridicule a senior, so in a gentle voice, she replied to her ….I asked for a stand-by; please sit down here.

Natalie continued; Jane, is it not too early to bang the phone on a junior crew member? I believe respect is reciprocal.

Now the attention in the room is divided, the junior crew versus the senior crew.

If you stop being a drama queen and respect others at the table, you will understand that there is not enough time to explain on the phone.

Natalie sat down but her voice was still loud ….why is there a request for an experienced junior crew, don't you want others to learn fast and be promoted?

Jane was irritated but she kept her cool; No one missed such sarcasm, other seniors would have lost their patience.

She has two bigger issues to deal with at the moment ...it is a misfortune to have no other choice than Natalie.

Angela here is not fit to fly, the flight crews are Captain Keith and Chris Smith, I need to plan for a smooth flight.

Sounds more like a sacrificial plan, the briefing room is not the time to call in sick except you are covering up for her.

I heard about the incident that happened after her last encounter with them.

The least you can do is to be nice to me! Seeing others at the table she relaxed a bit. Anyway, it will be nice to fly with Lisa, I like her.

Lisa could only smile, she will be mute between these two, this is all about the struggle to dominate.

On a final note, what is most important is teamwork. Lisa is flying for the first time and that is a weakness for us already.

We are only as strong as the weakest link. I will assign working positions on board.

It is time to proceed to the aircraft, It would be a bad start to be late.