Featured Image by: Me

At the age of 76, Mary is the 3rd oldest American Airlines Flight Attendant. However, as you can imagine, age doesn’t stop her!

“I sky dive, snow ski, play golf, you name it; whatever adventure’s there, I’m for it.”

I can just hear her chipper, Dallas, Texan voice now.

Mary was one of the happiest, talkative and vivacious flight attendants I have ever come across – and that’s saying something, as most flight attendants are all of these qualities. I simply could not resist to stop and ask her about her story, and she was more than willing to tell.

So after admiring my height and expressing her love for basketball, Mary explained how her height has always been an obstacle when it came to achieving her dreams – basketball and flight attending included. In 1985, flight attendant qualifications were a little different from today, but she was bound and determined and although basketball never worked out, when the opportunity for flight attending finally came, Mary was ready…

“I worked for all the managers at Dallas Fort Worth Airport as their secretary. I kept seeing these flight attendance, and I thought, “I need to do this” but the problem is I was so short. But I interviewed and low and behold I ended up getting in, and at the age of 54, I started flying.”

“I’ll be standing in the aisle and if I can’t close this overhead, I’ll look at a passenger and I’ll say, “Sir, I’ll pay you a dollar if you close these overheads,” I say, “but don’t tell the other flight attendants”, so that’s how I get ‘em all closed, or I’ll stand on the seat or someone’s lap if I have to!”

When asked about her most memorable experiences flying, lots of belligerent passengers come to mind, like the ones who tried to open the door in-flight. Mary always has to report those people to the captain who then proceeds to land at the nearest airport.

“There’s many of them coming out of Las Vegas who’ve had too much to drink, and there was one in particular there who tried to open a 757 door, and there was no way he could. But those are the people that are escorted right off the flight, because if we were in a position there where we’re still at the gate then they could be taken off immediately, and they should be ’cause who knows what could happen, you know, during the course of the flight.”

And then there’s the man Mary recalls who decided he didn’t want to go to the men’s room, and chose rather to urinate in one of the flight attendants shoes!

…I’m sorry, I need a little reminder, what’s so great about being a flight attendant again?

Oh! The places you’ll go!

“I love Seattle,” Mary said. “I love to go to Pike Market. We have a layover there, really the whole month so I was down in Pike’s Market and it was absolutely beautiful!”

But truly, Mary obviously LOVES her job, and I, personally, can’t help but be inspired by this spunky 76 year old flight attendant.

“I love my passengers, I love my young kids, I love the elderly, I just love people. I say a little prayer every morning. I say, “Dear Lord, I want to make a difference in someone’s life today”, and you know what? It works every time.”

“This is my goal in life and I’m fulfilling it.”

 

Thanks so much for reading! If you like this post, follow me on Twitter and Instagram! If you want to read more on other flight attendants, and everything having to do with flight attendants, check out my website, Faces in the Sky.

Cheers,

Joyful Jot