Episode 63- Flight Attendant Caroline Bright

It’s the season for hopping on a plane and heading to warmer climates. As you’re sitting in your seat in coach trying to get the in-flight entertainment to work and sipping on your mini cocktails, do you ever wonder how those men and women in flight attendant uniforms decided on that gig? We did, so we decided to chat with our friend Caroline Bright to get the dish on why she did it and what it’s like to spend your days working high above the earth.

You may remember Caroline from our conversation with her about being a professional bridesmaid. Yep, she’s one of those too. She’s also an event planner and former Miss. Vermont. So, yeah, you could say she keeps herself busy.

We chatted with Caroline about her time up in the air and the fascinating people she’s met through the years. She had a ton of great stories to share from how to handle someone who’s ill to the ever feared, thanks to the not so great film of the same name, snakes on a plane.

She even gave us the dirt on proper flying etiquette, especially when it comes to placing your requests from the bar cart. And yes, there’s something you should never order from that bar cart.

She told us the best parts of the gig as well as the worst parts. As you can probably imagine, projectile vomit is right up there. Weirdly, she has a really lovely story she shares about people coming together over a whole lot of puke on a plane. Apparently, there is still good in the world, who knew?

One of the things she loves most about the job is that strange opportunity to get to see people at their best or worst. She loves being a part of that all and getting to experience how people handle themselves in those situations. Whether it’s the excitement of going on a dream vacation or the extreme sorrow of travelling to a loved one’s funeral, she enjoys sharing a sliver of that experience with them.

Her time in the air has brought her a lot of insight into interpersonal interactions and understanding that sometimes the most annoying and frustrating passengers aren’t that at all but actually in the midst of a major crisis that they are paralyzed from because they’re in the air with no ability to communicate.

Taking on this job is no easy task, it’s not all bringing blankets and coordinating overhead bags. On any given day, she has to be a logistics manager, medical assistant, babysitter, waitress, therapist and so much more.

Caroline loves the adventures that her travels continue to supply. She shares her tales on her blog High Flying Adored. It can be found here. You’ll also find a slew of other great pieces on her life as a professional bridesmaid, a bride herself and most recently life as a mommy-to-be. We encourage you to check it out. Her stories are fun, eloquently shared and bright.