Yvonne Peel, retired Air Canada flight attendant, has put together a collection of her memories and experiences during her 31 years adventure with the airline. Her story first started off in NetLetter #1381, continued in #1382 and #1390. Here we have another episode.
A Bag of Shrimps.
Obviously, we could fly anywhere on the Air Canada network and I remember this particular time when we were flying into one of the Maritime airports, close to a fishing port.
We were on a Viscount and so there were only the four of us, two stewardesses and two pilots. The captain advised us to be ready to leave as soon as the last passenger disembarked. He had radioed ahead and a taxi was waiting to meet us on the tarmac. All four of us jumped in and were driven at breakneck speed to the port where the fishermen handed us big bags full of freshly caught shrimps and other delicacies. We then rushed back to the aircraft, in time to greet our passengers for the return flight.
How well I remember this particular occasion! I had advised my family and friends to be ready for a treat and to prepare everything for a really good seafood meal.
On this particular day, one of the bags I was carrying the shrimps in broke and I had to use an Air Canada plastic see-through garbage bag to put them in, so I could not be exactly discreet as to what was in the bag! I then had to walk through the airport carrying my suitcase (no wheels in those days) and my large bag full of shrimps! As if this was not bad enough, as we landed, I was called by Crew Scheduling, and advised I could not go home, as they had another flight for me!
Oh no! I could not believe it! There I was with a bag full of shrimps, pounds and pounds of the stuff, and I had to go somewhere else!! I was to told I would be able to return home later in the day, so I thought; not a problem, and I quickly went to the car park and hid my shrimps in the trunk of my car.
Of course, you have guessed it, I did not return that night, and when I did finally make it home a couple of days later, the stench in my car was quite overpowering and I had to bin all those wonderful shrimps!
It took weeks for the smell of shrimps to disappear from my car, but worse still, everyone came to my party, except for me of course, and minus the shrimps. So much for my glamorous job!!
Yvonne, now resident in the UK, has asked us to pass along that she has an apartment for rent in Javea, old port, Costa Blanca, Spain.
2 bed/2 bath self-catering apartment for rent; sleeps 4.
See www.puertoreal.co.uk for information.