Sky hag!

Having four children subjects me to comments from strangers, and the remarks I hear are, generally, either very positive or very negative. The very positive tend to include a note of empathy. Today, I was subjected to the Flight Attendant from Hell. Her attitude towards me had nothing to do with the boys, who were well-behaved throughout the flight. She zeroed in on me from the second (no exaggeration) I boarded. I set my carry-on on the floor in front of our seats while I buckled the boys in, and she curtly informed me that it would have to go into an overhead. Did I know that? Um, yeah. Just getting situated. Then as she was demonstrating the oxygen mask, she looked at me, flashed a fake smile, and asked, "Are you gonna keep trying for a girl?" I chuckled, feeling slightly off-guard, and told her that no, I was not. Throughout the 2+-hour flight, she was like a walking FAA rulebook, ready to jump on me with a citation. She started making me nervous. Troy set up the laptop for the boys & played a Spongebob dvd. Shortly thereafter, she was at my side, asking, "Will you be taking any more flights today?" I said no. She replied, "Alright, because if you were, you really should have headsets for them." RIGHT!
I turned around in my seat to look at Troy and roll my eyes. He said, "She's a beyotch." Then he told me he heard her when she walked by and commented to another flight attendant: "If you have that many kids, you should have a nanny."
WHOA.
What is it with a female like this who lashes out and slaps a judgment on you without having any clue as to what you're like; what you're all about; and who you are?! I was really taken aback. By this point, I was riled and ready to let her have it the next time she came around. So of course, she didn't come around again. The boys are good. They weren't screaming, they weren't crying, they weren't throwing food. They weren't bothering other passengers, they weren't roaming the aisles. That is not to say that they are perfect little robots -- we KNOW this -- but rather, that they weren't running around like hooligans and therefore incuring her wrath towards me. It had nothing to do with them except for the fact that there were FOUR of them. And whatever that meant to her, she felt she needed to lash out at me in that disgustingly & cowardly passive-aggressive fashion that is the hallmark of the insecure. The other flight attendants were perfectly nice, helpful, and kind to all of us. No complaints. One was telling me that our flight almost didn't get out because they didn't have enough crew, but at the last minute, they found someone who could work the flight. It was my in-air nemesis! Apparently, our flight would have been delayed interminably had they not added that one crew member. So, in my mind, the quick calculation was: hmm, fate...stuck at the airport for hours, or endure her?
Of course, I'm glad we were able to take off on time, and that we got to our destination without any hassles, save for her. And yet, it serves as a reminder that throughout life, we usually have more than a couple potential paths of destiny. There's fate, and there are choices -- and thank goodness! I hope some day that flight attendant realizes that we don't all have to be alike, and learns to view differences in women as interesting, not threatening. And I also hope that tonight, or tomorrow, or some day soon, there's a kid on her flight, and he has the stomach flu, and he projectile-vomits alllll over her. And some of it gets on her mouth and she has to wipe it off along with her fake smile!


p.s. No, I'm not writing to the airline's corporate HQ about her issues. I'm too tired from raising 4 boys. Hey! I should get a nanny!