Senior Moments

Now that the modern era of commercial airline travel has been going for about 40 years, there are some veteran cabin crew working who started their careers more than a few years ago. Inevitably they're not getting any younger and can experience the odd moments of forgetfulness, some in the trade call the cumulative effects of years of flying and approaching 60 as 'skyheimers' - early onset alzheimers caused by exposure to aircraft.

One such flight attendant who was mature in years had still kept her looks and was often referred to as an older version of Marilyn Monroe. Keen to keep up appearances she was known to spend a long time preparing for duty and was infamous for being last to the bus when it was leaving the overnight hotel after a crew layover. One day she excelled herself and the bus was about to leave without her on it. Finally one of her colleagues raced up to "Marilyn's" room and asked her to hurry up.

Marilyn explained that she couldn't leave the room as she couldn't find her uniform skirt. She'd looked everywhere, but it had vanished. Her colleague shouted through the door that it could not have gone far since they'd arrived in uniform the night before. Eventually 'Marilyn' asked for some help searching. Finally one of the other attendants found the skirt...carefully placed between the mattress and base of the bed for pressing overnight , which 'Marilyn' had completely forgotten about.

Her fame spread further after that with another incident. Again late for the bus, again chased by her colleagues, this time 'Marilyn' had got her curling iron stuck in her hair. "Just cut it out" suggested the rest of the crew. "No way" replied 'Marilyn', who ended up leaving the offending curling iron in her hair and stuck the handle down the back of her uniform jacket. She carried out her day's duties with it tucked there.