In colorful airline brochures it is written: to try on the stylish form of the stewardess, it is enough to have an attractive appearance, to be sociable and to know several foreign languages. And only one item in this list is omitted, but it should not be reminded! All the girls who dream of flying understand that every time the plane detaches from the ground, they risk their lives. Those who desire to fly are stronger than fear, go on board. And the rest continues to dream of the sky ...
The right of women to fly for a long time did not recognize. First passengers served the co-pilot. But this practice was unsafe, so he had to return to his chair, and his place was taken by the steward.
To include a woman in the crew, no one thought until 1930, when American nurse Ellen Church persuaded the leadership of a major airline to bring doctors to work. However, the "pass" to the skies of the resourceful Church and its seven colleagues was expensive. The fragile stewardesses, who were then called "heavenly girls", had to not only look after the passengers and monitor the cleanliness of the cabin, but also to load baggage, refuel aircraft, and then, together with men, drive them into the hangar.
And yet, despite the difficulties and the absence of days off, many women began to dream of heaven. And not only because stewardesses could be transported from one corner of the planet to another in a few hours, and in a couple of years to see more countries than others manage to visit in all life. The form made of a woman a radiant goddess who descends from heaven only in order to rise again in the afternoon to the clouds. And, of course, this was noticed not only by the ladies. Stewardesses became wives of millionaires, ministers, sultans and Hollywood stars.
"Champagne, poured at an altitude of 10 thousand kilometers, is the strongest aphrodisiac," repeated Ellen Church, who opened the way to the sky for women. To her husband, the banker, she also went down the ladder.
Times have changed: overcoming the force of gravity, huge machines with hundreds of passengers on board rise in the air, and the "Thumbelina", which 80 years ago carried fuel buckets 80 years ago, is already defiling through the aisles between the seats. Today, to become a flight attendant, it is not necessary to have growth below 160 centimeters, and weight - it is easier than 50 kilograms. It is enough to have something that can calm a person who succumbed to panic: attractiveness, sociability and endurance.
Applicants for the job of flight attendants arrange an interview where, thanks to a pair of questions, experts unerringly determine which of the girls can save people at a height of thousands of kilometers above the earth, and who of them themselves will need help. Passers of this test are sent to a physical examination, where they check vision, the state of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Owners of excellent health record for courses, which are usually offered by the airline itself.
For a few months the girls who used to fly only in the passenger seats study the structure of the aircraft and foreign languages, learn to serve passengers and, above all, practice automatic behavior in emergency situations. For the first time wearing the desired form, future flight attendants already know how to extinguish fires, promptly calm panic in the cabin, provide medical assistance and evacuate passengers, even if the plane is forced to land on the water.
After tens of hours of training flights under the guidance of the stewardess instructor, he finally enters the salon to greet his passengers. Keen on their thoughts, they do not suspect that in the next few hours she will experience, perhaps, the most exciting adventure in life - the first flight.
Numerous surveys and studies show that none of the women's professions causes such admiration for men as a flight attendant. Charming and always ready to come to the rescue, "heavenly girls", however, are rarely mentioned in other, more serious ratings. And in vain.
Going into flight, flight attendants risk their lives as often as scientists who work with toxic chemicals. At a critical moment, the quickness of reaction and the resourcefulness of the fragile stewardess are saved by as many people as the fire brigade is able to withdraw from the burning house.
Finally, here, above the clouds, cut off from the pilots by the tightly closed door, the flight attendants are left alone with the problem. With whatever they encounter in a close salon: with the whims of the elements, panic, with a sudden attack of someone's illness or with the attack of terrorists - they are the first to take the blow.
And yet, when on the ground, stewardesses forget about risk, bad weather forecasts and horoscopes. In anticipation of a new flight, they smile and sigh: "Probably, this is not treated. But I would go to heaven ... "