So you think your boss is a nightmare huh?
November 20th 2006 01:57
So you think your boss is a nightmare huh? In my hostie days I encountered some of the most diabolical seniors, who made serving drunk, abusive, vomiting passengers seem like a stroll in the park in comparison. I therefore challenge you to find a boss who deserves to be crowned with a set of devil’s horns and given a sash that reads ‘Boss from Hell’, more than the evil people I’m about to tell you about.
Up first is a supervisor I called ‘The Lipstick Nazi’. In my old airline’s grooming manual, it states that the standard colour of lipstick is red. Personally, I think red is a shocking colour and should only be worn by drag queens and prostitutes (some may say the line between a hostie and prostitute is pretty blurred, but I won’t go into that today). As wearing red lipstick was part of the uniform, I adhered to that rule. Apparently the shade of red I chose was “not red enough, and closer to pink” according to the Lipstick Nazi. She said, before the next flight (ie. return flight to our home base) I must purchase a new lipstick which was true red. The next day I applied my ‘back-up lipstick’, (kept in my suitcase in the event of encounters with any lipstick nazis in the company) which was as red as Santa’s outfit, yet the Lipstick Nazi was not satisfied. Feigning friendliness she said, “I appreciate you changing the colour of your lipstick but it’s still not red enough. I will write a report to your manager to ensure you are wearing the correct colour lipstick in the future”.
Then there was ‘The Freak’ supervisor. I was in the business class galley eating a piece of chocolate from a bar (one that has already been divided into portions that you break off) when a passenger passed by for a chat. Thinking it terribly rude not to, I offered the gentleman some chocolate which he happily accepted, breaking off a portion for himself. Feeling quite proud of myself for being able to share a business class grade of chocolate, I was subsequently shocked upon later being pulled aside and admonished for my behaviour by the supervisor. She reprimanded me for not following business class standards of service, saying I “should not have offered the chocolate in such a rude manner, instead it should have been presented on a doily lined plate”!! I didn’t know whether to laugh or protest. I chose the latter, when The Freak added that my method of delivering the chocolate was “unhygienic” considering I had “touched the chocolate prior to offering it to the passenger”. The fact that the wrapper was still around the chocolate didn’t matter to her, and what followed was an argument concerning everything from interpretations of hygiene to cultural differences- the supervisor was from Europe. I didn’t think Europeans and Australians were that different, but obviously we are!
Still convinced your boss is worse? Wait until you read about the ‘Shoe Nazi’. Freshly graduated from supervisor training school, the Shoe Nazi wanted to do everything ‘by the book’. But I believe he received a different training manual to everybody else in his class, because the so-called rules in relation to cabin safety he made the hosties under his supervision follow, were absolute rubbish. Most notable of these was his rule about passengers’ shoes that were not attached to their feet for take-off and landing. Normally, passengers sitting at an emergency exit seat have to keep shoes on their feet, or stowed in the overhead compartment for safety reasons. However, other passengers can place their shoes under the seat in front of them. The Shoe Nazi made us put ALL stray shoes in the overhead stowage. That meant touching many pairs of dirty, smelly shoes and putting them on top of luggage/ handbags/ sweaters already in stowage. And feeling like a total fool. I never understood supervisors’ warped way of thinking.
I wonder what would have happened in a show-down between the Shoe Nazi, who didn’t think there was anything wrong with touching passengers shoes and then serving them food, and The Freak, who thought it was unhygienic to offer a passenger wrapped chocolate from your hand?
More seniors from hell next time…
Up first is a supervisor I called ‘The Lipstick Nazi’. In my old airline’s grooming manual, it states that the standard colour of lipstick is red. Personally, I think red is a shocking colour and should only be worn by drag queens and prostitutes (some may say the line between a hostie and prostitute is pretty blurred, but I won’t go into that today). As wearing red lipstick was part of the uniform, I adhered to that rule. Apparently the shade of red I chose was “not red enough, and closer to pink” according to the Lipstick Nazi. She said, before the next flight (ie. return flight to our home base) I must purchase a new lipstick which was true red. The next day I applied my ‘back-up lipstick’, (kept in my suitcase in the event of encounters with any lipstick nazis in the company) which was as red as Santa’s outfit, yet the Lipstick Nazi was not satisfied. Feigning friendliness she said, “I appreciate you changing the colour of your lipstick but it’s still not red enough. I will write a report to your manager to ensure you are wearing the correct colour lipstick in the future”.
Then there was ‘The Freak’ supervisor. I was in the business class galley eating a piece of chocolate from a bar (one that has already been divided into portions that you break off) when a passenger passed by for a chat. Thinking it terribly rude not to, I offered the gentleman some chocolate which he happily accepted, breaking off a portion for himself. Feeling quite proud of myself for being able to share a business class grade of chocolate, I was subsequently shocked upon later being pulled aside and admonished for my behaviour by the supervisor. She reprimanded me for not following business class standards of service, saying I “should not have offered the chocolate in such a rude manner, instead it should have been presented on a doily lined plate”!! I didn’t know whether to laugh or protest. I chose the latter, when The Freak added that my method of delivering the chocolate was “unhygienic” considering I had “touched the chocolate prior to offering it to the passenger”. The fact that the wrapper was still around the chocolate didn’t matter to her, and what followed was an argument concerning everything from interpretations of hygiene to cultural differences- the supervisor was from Europe. I didn’t think Europeans and Australians were that different, but obviously we are!
Still convinced your boss is worse? Wait until you read about the ‘Shoe Nazi’. Freshly graduated from supervisor training school, the Shoe Nazi wanted to do everything ‘by the book’. But I believe he received a different training manual to everybody else in his class, because the so-called rules in relation to cabin safety he made the hosties under his supervision follow, were absolute rubbish. Most notable of these was his rule about passengers’ shoes that were not attached to their feet for take-off and landing. Normally, passengers sitting at an emergency exit seat have to keep shoes on their feet, or stowed in the overhead compartment for safety reasons. However, other passengers can place their shoes under the seat in front of them. The Shoe Nazi made us put ALL stray shoes in the overhead stowage. That meant touching many pairs of dirty, smelly shoes and putting them on top of luggage/ handbags/ sweaters already in stowage. And feeling like a total fool. I never understood supervisors’ warped way of thinking.
I wonder what would have happened in a show-down between the Shoe Nazi, who didn’t think there was anything wrong with touching passengers shoes and then serving them food, and The Freak, who thought it was unhygienic to offer a passenger wrapped chocolate from your hand?
More seniors from hell next time…
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