Which are you?
Honestly I have to say there are two factors that determine if I will be a slam-clicker or a jumpseat confessional. First, the crew. If I’m working with senior FA’s who are calloused and crusty from the industry it’s clearly going to be a slam clicker kind of time. If I have a more junior crew or I see the name of ‘that’ FA on my roster you know good times are going to be had.
A little bit of history on the slam-clicker vs. the jumpseat confessional. Have you ever been in the galley minding your own cart and the green wants nothing more than to tell you about the problems her and her boyfriend are going through? Remember you have only met this person THIS MORNING and she’s already telling you that his libido is a bit too much for her. Have you ever been in the galley trying to mind your own cart but someone else is telling you your sugar is in the wrong spot? They openly pride themselves on being a FAM(flight attendant manual) licker? These two scenarios describe the jumpseat confessional and the slam clicker.
The jumpseat confessional. What drives one person to be able to meet someone and spill their darkest secrets in a matter of 2 flights? We’ve all done it at one point in time. Is it the factor that there’s an 80% chance you will never see this person again in your life and they provide an arbitrary point of view? Is it the 10% chance they have a story that can relate and a new friendship is formed? Or do you just want someone to bitch to? Who knows? As a passenger you can’t begin to comprehend once that curtain is shut what conversations take place in that galley. One the jumpseat is flipped down and cruising altitude is reached, the skies the limit as far as conversation goes. It becomes our own confessional booth. Some take the bait some don’t. Most of the time the ones that don’t fall into what we call the slam- clicker.
The slam clicker- hops out of van. Signs name on sign in sheet. Grabs room key. Takes elevator-not holding it for anyone. Exits elevator with no salutation. Opens door. Slams door. Clicks lock. R.I.P until check-in. What drives one person to be able to close themselves off from their coworkers-from the people they are trusting their daily lives with? We’ve all done it at one point in time. Is it the fact that you’re spending upwards of 14 hours a day with these people and once you are off the clock wan nothing to do with them? Probably. But I think that most of these instances where you encounter a slam-clicker are based upon personality. Introverted. Independent. They possess the ability to separate their work from their life on their pairing. If you can do this, tell me how. When I start a pairing, its one crew concept from check in on day 1 to check out on day 5. Invites to dinner are extended, walks on the trails or even a java run for those early risers! Why separate what you are given for 5 days? As a passenger, you cant being to comprehend once that uniform is off what can happen. Crews and pairings are made and broke once that scarf is off.
I digress. I realize I’ve just summed up thousand and thousands of crews into two types of personalities, which isn’t very realistic or logical, but I know for the crews reading this its pretty damn close to true. These past blog posts have been wordy and deep. I’ll change it up. I’ve been inspired with a fun to-do for my next blog. Until then I’ll leave you with the oldest one in the book.
She walks into the flight deck and asks, “Captain, coffee tea or me?”
Captain responds with “whatever is easier to make”
