Plane Lands In the Hudson

You've probably heard by now that a plane ran into a flock of geese which shut it's engines down and caused it to crash into the Hudson.  There were no fatalities.

For those of you outside the aviation industry, you're probably thinking, "I'm glad that no one died."  For those of us who have been forced to watch hours of plane crashes, we're sitting around thinking, "That has to be the best pilot ever."  

As far as I know, this is the first water ditching with no fatalities in the history of aviation.  The pilot had to do absolutely everything perfectly and it turns out he or she did.  

I'd just like to congratulate the Pilots, Flight Attendants, and rescue workers for an outstanding performance today.  They're all heros in my book.  Somebody give them a medal.  

The Glory Days

Sometimes I wonder what made me want to become a flight attendant.  Actually, I'm forced to wonder that since the first small talk topic between older flight attendants and relatively new flight attendants (those of us with less than 7 years) is, "What made you want to become a flight attendant?"

I have to tell them something.  

"Well, I majored in Fiction Writing."

Sometimes that's enough and the conversation moves on.  Or they press further.

"Well how did you end up here?"

The truth is I just kind of fell into it.  I was surfing around on Monster.com about 2 weeks before graduation thinking, "now would be a good time to find employment."  I saw a job opening for "Flight Attendant" and clicked on the link for more info.

It took me to a welcome screen and asked me to take a pre-qualifying online test. Sounded good.  I waste half my time taking pointless tests on the internet anyway.  One more wouldn't hurt.  

I took the test and answered such difficult questions as

•  "Is stealing from your employer wrong?"
  
• "Should you help a customer even if it's outside of your job description"
• "5+5+5=?"
• "Is it acceptable to be a few minutes late for work if your employer doesn't notice?"

Surprisingly I passed the test.  Even more of a surprise was the screen that I was taken to that said, "When can we fly you to Chicago for an Interview?"

Uhh... two week sounds good.  

After a series of mind-numbing interviews I was offered the job.  

Sure, what the heck.  I have nothing better to do for the next two years.

That's essentially how I fell into this gig.  

But now it's almost 2 years later.  My friends have moved on to real jobs with real salaries and here I am, making less than $20,000 a year from the airline.  

It's easy for me to get frustrated.  Where's my big paycheck?  What am I doing here?  Why didn't I pick a more practical college major?  I should have listened to the guidance councilors and majored in business.

These little mental hissy-fits usually only last an hour.  Then I remind myself that last month I was eating in a little restaurant in Zurich Switzerland.  The month before that I was in Kuwait City watching the sun set over the Persian Gulf as the Mosque called out the evening prayer.  The month before that I was walking through a Buddhist temple in Narita Japan and before that I was standing on the Beach in Rio De Janeiro.  

Why would I regret those experiences because I'm not making enough money?

What's the purpose of money if all you can do is work?  

I look at my education the same way.  It's not useful because of the money I can make from having a degree, it's useful because it positions me to be successful with my goals.  

I'll keep improving my experiences and soon enough the money will come.  I just see a few options and follow my gut.  It's worked out for me so far.

It's a whole new year

Apparently it's been 2009 for 11 days now.  No, I haven't needed 11 days to recover from New Year partying. I've just been busy working on other projects.  

Oh yeah, I've done some flying too.  

None of the good flying.  

I've just been hopping around the States, becoming envious of winters in Orlando but feeling relieved that I don't have to spend much of the winter in Boston or Chicago.  

So what does Henry have planned for 2009?

I'm glad I asked for you...

Some of you may know that last month I started working on a new book.  Not the fiction book, that's still in the works, but a non-fiction book.

Next month, I'll be able to say, "I wrote the book on stress free air travel."

That's right, in February I'm releasing my first e-book titled, "The Insider's Guide to Stress Free Air Travel."   It's destined to be a classic if I do say so myself (and I have to say so because no one else will).  

Now you can be a part of this Historic e-book's creation!

(Is that over-hype?  Absolutely.  But I'm happy with it)

Most of the book is done and I'm about to go into editing mode but I want to make sure I the book is as helpful as possible for everyone traveling on Airplanes.

So I'm going to ask for a little bit of feedback from you, if you're willing.

In the comments section at the bottom of this post, I'd like you to tell me what stresses you out when you travel.  Is it airport parking?  Security?  Boarding?  Checking Bags?  Trying to get the number of that witty and attractive flight attendant on your plane?

There are no stresses too small to be overcome, so don't feel silly for mentioning any of them.  It's amazing how many techniques flight attendants have developed for maintaining airplane sanity.  

So fire away- What stresses you out?