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Christopher Lee (Your Account) (Logout)

I Love to Fly

A long long time ago…
I can still remember
How those crew vans used to be on time.
Now I know if we sit for hours
Watching Hare Krishna’s pass out flowers
We’ll finally cab it on United’s dime.

Here again I start to shiver
Waiting curbside in Chicago’s winter.
Bad news from the crew desk,
“You’re on your own in this mess.”

I can’t remember if I cried,
Useless FLTLINE I’d already tried
My spirit broken, completely fried.
This job's glamour has died.

So my my, this career in the sky.
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when flyers were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
Thinking, ‘Where has my joy gone in the sky?’
Where has my joy gone in the sky?

Did you vote for our contract?
Or did you tell them to send it back?
Come on now, I want to know!
Look how the pilots’ wallets grow
While we sat and argued in road shows.
As inflation will put us in that hole.

Well, I know we tried our very best
With Hawaii, damn you know the rest:
In one swift corporate move
Honolulu got royally screwed!

I was a wide-eyed, new-hire attendant,
A lifetime career this was never meant.
Straight from the training center I was sent,
But oh, “I love to fly!”

I starting thinking
“My, my, this career in the sky.”
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when flyers were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
Thinking, ‘Where has my joy gone in the sky?’
Where has my joy gone in the sky?

For thirty years I’ve been on the line.
I’ve seen many changes in that time
But never, ever will they respect me.
Our co-workers faces turning green
From insecticide spray used in Sydney
Well that isn’t how things ought to be.

Racing to jumpseats, got to strap down.
Turbulence now, cups fall to the ground.
The P.A. was clearly heard
They ignored every single word!
And while the captain tried to right the plane
The movie ended and they all complained
As we all sat there, quite insane!
That day my spirit died.

The crew was singing,
“My, my, this career in the sky.”
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when flyers were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
And thinking, ‘Where has our job gone in the sky?’
Where has our job gone in the sky?

Critical Coverage that bad summer,
Our ignored contract, it’s quite a bummer.
My hair is gray and falling fast
Off my head and into the trash.
Supervisors require that I get a pass
Just came from surgery, my back in a cast.

During my briefing, everyone came in
Gave me a little thirty-year pin
They all got up and clapped,
But oh how I felt so trapped!
‘Cause my friends have all gone and moved on;
As I sit here and write this song,
I recall the things that went wrong.
The day my spirit died.

We started singing,
“My, my, this career in the sky.”
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when flyers were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
And thinking, ‘Where has our job gone in the sky?’
Where has our job gone in the sky?

Now it seems we’re all over the place
A file number, never a face.
Is there time left to start again?
So come on: Crews be proper, crews be quick!
3:59 is a dirty trick
Cause side letters are United’s little friend.

As CSR’s get a C-Scale wage 
They too see that passenger rage.
No union ever on Earth
Could get them what they are worth
As the passengers crowd deeper on my flight
They know as I, these things aren't right.
I saw passengers putting up a fight.
The day my spirit died.

They were singing,
“My, my, this career in the sky.”
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when we all were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
And thinking, ‘Where has our fun gone in the sky?’
Where has our fun gone in the sky?

I spoke with another airline’s crew
And I asked them for some happy news,
But they just smiled and turned away.
I followed them out to the street
Where their van was there to meet,
But our own van just never came that day.

And in the street: our crew must wait
13 hour flight, it’s seems our fate.
But not a word was spoken;
Perhaps our van was broken?
The times that make me smile the most:
Were in the beginning, when we were the Host.
Now it’s all over, Respect is a ghost
But oh I still love to fly…

We were singing,
“My, my, this career in the sky.”
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when flyers were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
And thinking, ‘Where has our job gone in the sky?’
Where has our job gone in the sky?

We were singing,
“My, my, this career in the sky.”
First, trans-cons to Miami,
Now six legs to Ojai.
Remembering when flyers were well-dressed, wide-eyed.
And thinking, ‘Where has my job gone in the sky?’
Where has my job gone in the sky?

Christopher Lee
End of Summer, 2000

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