A Flight Attendant's Thoughts

By Anthea Macdonald and Robyn George

It is two weeks today since the terrorist assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon forever changed the lives of thousands of Americans and their families, and with it, our perception of our idyllic life in this great country. One of our dancers, Robyn George, is a flight attendant with American Airlines. I called her on her cell phone as soon as I heard the horrific news, and found her grief stricken, but waiting safely at LAX for her husband to pick her up. Her flight had been cancelled. She is based in New York City, and shares an apartment there with other flight attendants. I recently received an email from her husband that contained an eloquent letter from Robyn, which is excerpted here. Her words articulately express our feelings of loss and hope for recovery at this tragic time:

"... it is definitely not the ideal time to be an American Airlines flight attendant, but I flew my first flight this weekend - to Miami Saturday and back Sunday - and it went well. It was in fact a very positive experience. I was scared, but I just decided I had to do it anyway - where do you draw the line? If I skipped my Saturday flight would I skip my flight on Wednesday, too?...and what about next week or next month or our next family vacation? We don't know what these madmen are about - we don't know if they'll strike again or when, but we can't let them win. We have to take all the precautions and then get on with our lives. And we did. You should have seen us on the plane! It was war! ...we supported each other and were supported with sympathy and cooperation by the passengers. The captains and crew worked out plans for what we hoped would be every contingency, and I think every flight attendant and every cockpit crew member was ready to do whatever it might take to bring that flight to a safe conclusion.

"I always tell my kids two things - one is that it's not that hero's aren't afraid. They are. But they go ahead and do what they have to do anyway (not that I'm a hero - but I think that's how you have to live your life), and the second is that we have very little control over what is thrown at us - our only control is how we choose to respond. We can be bitter and angry and fearful and miserable. We can choose that, and many do. Or we can try to put it behind us, try to find our faith in our God, in ourselves, in each other, and go on.

"I got so many letters and phone calls from people...from all over the world , some from friends I hadn't heard from in a long, long time. It was a timely reminder of what a good place this is to be - that we have the power to make it that way and that more times than not, we do. God sends us the sunsets and sunrises to remind us each day. Friends use the phone and e-mail!

"Nothing will ever be quite the same. The world is always changing, and on Tuesday the 11th our world changed much faster than we ever thought it could. But for the sake of all those people who left for work that morning thinking they'd be going home that night, be hugging their kids, kissing their partner, cooking dinner .... for the sake off all those people who thought they had a tomorrow, we will go on. Our governments will do whatever has to be done to stop these madmen and we will do whatever we have to, to support them. We'll live our lives and teach our children the rights and wrongs and some of the harder lessons as well. We'll be more vigilant than we ever thought we'd have to be. But we won't let them bring us down to their level. We won't let them take our humanity. Or our way of life."