Around the World in a Bad Mood: Confessions of a Flight Attendant - Rene Foss

I first read this book when I was 16. I was still at school and eager to grow up, pass my exams and get out into the real world. My dream job was to be an air hostess and I looked on Amazon and found this book. Nowadays there are quite a few flight attendant books on Amazon but apart from Tea Coffee or Me, this was the only one I found.

The book is now all dog eared and falling apart as I have read it so many times and leant it to ...
...know that the book is very true to life and realistic. Rene may seem like she is moaning but everyone I know grumbles about their jobs.

About the author: Rene Foss originally wanted to be an actress but her father advised her to get a ‘proper job.’ She has been flying for twenty years for a major US carrier and through some Googling it seems to be Northwest Airlines. There isn’t much about the Rene on the Internet apart from a handful ... more

I first read this book when I was 16. I was still at school and eager to grow up, pass my exams and get out into the real world. My dream job was to be an air hostess and I looked on Amazon and found this book. Nowadays there are quite a few flight attendant books on Amazon but apart from Tea Coffee or Me, this was the only one I found.

The book is now all dog eared and falling apart as I have read it so many times and leant it to other crew members. Now I am cabin crew myself I know that the book is very true to life and realistic. Rene may seem like she is moaning but everyone I know grumbles about their jobs.

About the author: Rene Foss originally wanted to be an actress but her father advised her to get a ‘proper job.’ She has been flying for twenty years for a major US carrier and through some Googling it seems to be Northwest Airlines. There isn’t much about the Rene on the Internet apart from a handful of interviews. She used the book to launch her musical revue of the same name. (http://www.aroundtheworldinabadmood.com)

So what’s it about? The book is basically a humorous look into the aviation world as seen by flight attendant Rene.

The book is spilt into chapters each on a different topic, starting off with how she started working as a glamorous air stewardess (her mother was a former stew) and takes us through her interview process and training. I love the line that she should have said at the interview-"I'm hoping to find a job where I can deal with emotionally and physically abusive people who will blame me for everything that goes wrong in their lives and collect trash with a big smile on my face.” The training chapter made me laugh as it’s quite similar to my experiences and I was glad to pass training and get out on line! There is also an 'Advice to New hires' chapter that is must reading for any newbies on their first few flights.

I have read the chapter on 'Layovers' quite a few times whilst sat in many a hotel room on a nightstop. Rene seems to have stayed in some pretty rubbish hotels but she does detail what the average layover is like-boring and with minimum rest.

I can relate to her first miserable experience and how she was homesick and hated flying quite well. The whole book is just true to life that even reading it for the 500th time makes me laugh out loud. The book takes us through Rene’s experiences of other crew members, layovers and issues with her airline management.
The major part of the book relates to rude, annoying and stupid passengers who are what all flight attendants gripe about in the back galley.

The vast majority of them seem to check their brains in with their suitcases. How could you cope with such comments as: “Do you have raspberry-kiwi iced tea?” “Has anyone ever said you look like Monica Lewinsky?” “Who’s flying the plane?” and “Do you have a place where I can put my cheesecake?” As a flight attendant the worst part of my job would be with the passengers and after someone has asked me a stupid question for the 500th time that day I want to scream. But I just smile through gritted teeth!

Rene also introduces the reader to flight attendant language-“I’ll be right back,” the attendant’s code for a popular swear word. Other handy euphemisms include "equipment change" (meaning a broken aircraft), “just a few moments” (a very, very long time) and “crop dusting” (walking down the aisle while discreetly passing gas.)

She also offers practical advice to passengers such as being self sufficient when flying and being patient and accepting things will go wrong. Rene also reiterates that flight attendants are on board airplanes primarily for safety and are not flying waitresses.

Where can I buy it? I have never seen this book in the shops but you can purchase it on Amazon UK for £6.59.

Who will enjoy this book? Cabin crew and people who want to be cabin crew. I’m not sure if anyone else would really appreciate this book. I would advise any 'wannabe' cabin crew to read this book before they apply! 

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