Feast or Famine

The life of a flight attendant is basically centered on one thing. Food. Where to find it, what to eat and how much it costs.

It’s tough to eat normally on the road. You eat when you have a chance to eat, which sometimes means you have to hold out for a looong time without food and when you do eat, is almost never at a normal mealtime. It’s funny to be in such a modern profession and be continually focused on such a primordial need.

A typical day on the road starts off with 6 uniformed crew members madly running towards the Tim Horton’s counter in the airport to get a delicious coffee and breakfast sandwich before check-in.

Unless you’re on the ball in the morning and had a chance to grab a sandwich for later, it’s really tough to eat during the day.

All great inventions are born through necessity and eating on the road is no different.

Flight attendants and pilots alike have come up with creative ways to have a good (I use that word loosely) meal onboard. I have personally witnessed a pilot make a casserole (instant rice in a Ziploc bag, add hot water and a can of tuna. Voila!) and a flight attendant make an ice cappuccino (put ice cubes and creamers in a cup, shake, then add coffee and sugar. Just like Starbucks) and seasoned pretzels with dip (add Tabasco sauce to a bag of pretzels and shake. For the dip, take a packet of mayo and add some Worcestershire and mustard. Mmm).

I’ve also heard stories of making chicken noodle soup in the coffee pot of a hotel room and grilled cheese with the iron. I wouldn’t recommend either of those though.

At the end of the day, we pile in the crew van and discuss who is going to eat what for dinner. I personally love eating out, but after a while it gets under my skin. It seems like you are always waiting, ordering, tipping, waiting, and paying the bill.

Although it has its downsides, its definitely not all bad, I’ve had some great times eating out with the crew and learned some very interesting ways to make plane pretzels taste great.

However, next time you are in an airport and you see a hungry looking pilot stroll by, toss him a sandwich, you’ll make his day!