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If you read my book review of “The Tobacco Wives” by Adele Myers, you’ll know I had a little bit of an awakening when I discovered book recommendations for sensitive readers.
“Fly Girl” by Ann Hood was another recommendation for sensitive readers — those of us who just want a lite escape via reading — that I quickly accepted.
This is a memoir about Ann Hood’s career as a flight attendant, which started in 1978 — the golden age of air travel.
Ann shares a bit about her childhood and how the aviation industry fit into her life growing up. She reveals how and why she became interested in being a flight attendant and what it was like to complete the intense training.
From Ann’s account, I learned that air travel was very different then than it is today. Of course, it was much more expensive and pretty glamorous.
Flight attendants had so much work to do for each trip, and they had to wear high heels while also maintaining a certain look (including random weigh-ins).
According to Ann, flight attendants in first class made salads for each passenger, right in front of them — customizing the salad with the dressing of their choice and tossing it right before their eyes! They also made custom sundaes… yum!
Ann shares a lot of the daily ins and outs of the job, but I found her account of the industry fascinating. All the airlines buying each other out, and the flight attendants being in the mix of all of it.
As a young girl, Ann Hood wanted to become a writer. When a school counselor discouraged her from that career path, she verbalized her desire to become a flight attendant.
She became both!
After working as a flight attendant for years, she’s also published at least a dozen books.
I truly enjoyed reading this one and would recommend it to anyone who travels or is interested in the air travel industry.
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The Bitter Lemon 