Full Circle [Brandon Fick]

3:00
"Talk to any flight attendant and I assure you they have stories to tell. Stories of people they've kicked off of the plane because they weren't compliant and served as a safety risk, people going to the lavatory in their socks or barefoot (that's not water on the floor), people having sex in the seats on redeye flights, customers bartering blow jobs for alcoholic beverages - you hear it all. I can't say that I've experienced enough to warrant any stories except for the few that are on this blog, but last night was a story I most likely won't forget. My flight started off as any other; you get people on the plane after safety checks, you help them with their baggage, greet them, usher people to their seats, make sure people are in compliance with FAA regulations, etc. Once that aircraft door is closed, that's when we make our money - our full pay is in effect. We always try and leave early (to which we mostly do). I'd been the lead flight attendant yesterday evening on our way to Tampa FL. out of NY's JFK. After safety demos were finished, a passenger by the name of James jokingly asked for a couple of Heinekens or a Miller Light. I asked him how the hell he could go from Heineken to Miller Lite? I joked back that he should write our company and tell them to start serving Guinness on our flights. He was amused. Humor can be infectious in the cabin of an aircraft. How many times have you flown on a domestic carrier and you see some flight attendants who look extremely pissed off to the point to where you are afraid to even get out of your seat to hit up the lavatory because you don't want a confrontation? I bring humor into my flights to put people at ease so you don't have to worry about hitting a call button if you need something. High maintenance passengers make my trips go by fast so I can get to my next layover and kick back and relax. Little did I know that James needed this humor - anything to get him away from flying to Tampa to see his father at the hospital because he had renal failure. My job is the greatest social experiment; people from all walks of life taking up space on my flights. They all have somewhere to go - someone to see. They all have things going on in their lives... some joyous and some not. We're all strangers. Little did I know that James would come back in the galley to use the lavatory and divulge us on his story to my crew and I of why he was flying to Tampa yesterday evening. James was born without a right arm. He had four fingers on his right hand. A tall slender man, well dressed, mannered, affluent and well spoken. He'd explained to my crew as I was getting a couple of beers for him and preparing alcohol to be served to my row that people like myself with a sense of humor is exactly what he needed. He went into detail on why he was flying to FL. He made himself vulnerable to my crew and I - complete strangers. He cried. We consoled him. We even shed a little of our own skin explaining our own experiences with those we lost close to us; about my father committing suicide when I was four, about my other crew member losing her sixteen year old son to suicide back in '98. We made ourselves vulnerable for his comfort out of compassion because we'd all been there. After service, James came back to the rear galley with his computer in hand (no pun intended); he likes to write in order to clear his head. I could explain to you the whole story through the conversations exchanged, but I believe that what he wrote speaks for itself. I had taken pictures of it with my camera phone. I edited what I could of the company's name. It reads as follows:

READ MORE: http://gotfick.tumblr.com/post/5193796228/full-circle

Sin Rostro! Open Mic Night 08/11
Beauty Bar
231 E 14th St., NYC

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Entertainment