First month of reserve

     This job is never short of its surprises! August 31st ushered in for me what most flight attendants absolutely DREAD about this job; RESERVE! I decided to approach it with a totally open mind so as to form my own opinion, and not allow myself to be biased or pre-disposed to hating the "unknown."

     So as to be somewhat in control of my situation and not be taken by complete surprise by getting a trip out of Newark, I decided to schlep my bags to JFK and put myself on 'short call' which essentially (but not definitively) limits crew scheduling to calling me out for just Kennedy as they have the best trips. Well it wasn't long before trips started opening up and the manager on duty told me to run down to a gate that was near departure whose flight attendant had yet to arrive! He told me to not put my bags away as she (the late flight attendant) still had a chance of making it and that if the gate agent needed to close the door, then I was going on the trip but if she showed up, then not. It wasn't until I arrived at the gate that I even knew where the trip was going. It turned out to be a 3-day trip with one layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico and another in Caracas, Venezuela!! 

     Not only was this to (potentially) be my first international trip as an American Airlines flight attendant, but I would be working with one of my classmates Gianluca! Long story short, the door closed with me on the inside and off we went! It ended up being an amazing trip and I've had several since. I have become more comfortable with this daunting job than I ever thought I would and I'm thankful to my new-hire instructors for that.