CABIN crew and social media is a very dangerous mix – but it can be lucrative if we’re willing to be a bit more…open minded.
Our socials can be quite easily found, if we aren’t careful about it, and let’s face it, most of us aren’t.
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In fact, most of us have a picture of us either in our uniforms, or even on a plane, making us very recognisable – and passengers aren’t shy about tracking us down.
In my latest weekly blog for Sun Online Travel, I’ll reveal some of the maddest requests we get from passengers and how tempting some of them can be, no matter how bizarre.
However, I will start by saying that you really shouldn’t be searching for your flight attendants on social media, it’s really creepy behaviour.
Most of us hate it – like 99.9 per cent – and we should definitely try harder to hide ourselves online.
But we also shouldn’t have to live in a world where, after every flight, we receive messages from people who were on board, asking where we’re going to be that night.
The answer after a long day at work is usually home, to our partners, families, friends or whoever and there’s often very little you can offer that will change that.
However, there are often much creepier questions that come from the passengers we serve.
For instance, there was one guy who was known to every crew member as the “foot man”.
He would offer money in exchange for pictures of feet from the people who had served him on his flights – and it turned out he was a very frequent flyer.
Other airlines knew about him too – and most of us got a message or two from him, offering a fair amount.
I’m sure there will have been some people who obliged too, but I can’t say for certain. I mostly thought it was pretty bleak to be honest, and blocked him immediately.
It sadly doesn’t stop there however. Some people literally want the clothes off our backs…and sometimes our backsides.
Flight attendants are pretty sexualised, particularly with our uniforms and for some people, we’re a real fantasy.
As flattering as that may sound, it can be exhausting.
There are some people out there who use social media to try and buy our clothes off us.
A friend of mine was even told “the mustier the better” which is a sentence that continues to make me shudder to this day.
These people are mainly after the uniforms, especially neckerchiefs and shirts, although underwear and tights are also high up on their shopping lists.
Some of them have a lot of money too and the fees they offer can be pretty tempting. Again, it’s nothing I’ve done myself, but I’m sure some people will have been persuaded.
All of this sounds quite humorous – and I can see why it could be funny to hear about.
But for us, it can become really unpleasant – and really quickly.
So, even if you’ve been successful with your requests before, you should really give it a rest from now on.
We might not act like it, but some of us can find it quite unsettling – and you’re really not putting us in a nice position.
You never know how your request will affect those you’re putting it to, so it’s always best to just leave us be, even if you have managed to find us quite easily online.
We’re just trying our best to do a job that we mostly really enjoy – and you acting like a stalker can really change that for us, no matter how well-intentioned.
If you really insist on having the uniforms and the clothes, some people do flog them on eBay.
You’ll just have to find your own way of making them musty – that’s really not part of our job description.
Meanwhile, these are the gifts that flight attendants often receive from passengers.
And this flight attendant explained how to improve your chances of sitting in first class.
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