Reality is sometimes so different.

An ex-colleague of mine has a daughter who was told as well as read of the glamorous life of an air-hostess. Those beautiful air-hostesses with their sweet smiles and beautiful complexion caught her eye and she dreamt of becoming one someday. She studied hard and always looked into her mirror, forever wondering whether her looks were good enough, her smile sufficiently attractive or not or her complexion could be considered good to qualify for the position of air-hostess in one of the airlines.

When the time came she applied for the post in Malaysian Airlines. The people there were so particular in their choice that she had to go through so many interviews but each succeeding interview took her nearer to her goal. Eventually she secured the position she wanted.

From what I was told, she had studied the last few years in a college with a scholarship from that airline and so when she got her post she has to serve for a minimum of two years. Work was so much different from the stories she heard. During those two years, she had so much work to do and the hours were not the same as ordinary jobs. On the plane there were times when she had to help passengers to put their luggage up and as such luggage can sometimes be quite heavy, her hands were often painful. Then she had to serve the every passengers with food and drinks unlike another airline with cheaper flights which sells such food and drinks and so need to serve only when there are people who buy the food or drinks.

As for travelling round the world to enjoy it, most of the time she was so tired at the end of the flight that she would just flop down onto a bed to rest. There was not much time for sight-seeing unless leave is applied for so that the holiday can start at the time of reaching a foreign country.
And should a flight be scheduled to start at five o'clock the next morning, she can be placed on call from three o'clock. So, sometimes, there just could not be enough sleep.

So it was a tough life but then one man's meat is another man's poison. So, it possible that others would tell a different story. One day I hope to hear someone else tell such a different story so that I can expand my knowledge on the work of air-stewardesses. Till then this is what I have.

Well, when her bond was up, she applied for another job. Well, she is still young and can start a new career and she is lucky to discover that that first job was not for her. Let us hope she will find something that suits her. That's life!

And suddenly what seemed so important, height, beauty and complexion, are not so important after all. Interest and suitability of the job could be more relevant factors.