AUGUST HEAT ~ BOBBY RYDELL & JOEY BISHOP ~ FLYING A JET ~ IS THERE SMOKE IN THE CABIN?

So many of my letters begin with "I went to mass today".....I certainly was a "church going" girl. I even went with some of my boyfriends. Those were the days when we believed if we missed mass, and got in a horrible accident and died, we would go to hell. I guess I also thought I would go to hell if I "necked" too much with a boy...........Oh, those days of yore..............

August 27, 1963

Dear Mother,
     I didn't go out on flight Sunday. I had terrible cramps. I went to 11:30 mass and didn't eat because I wanted to go to communion. (If we ate after midnight, we couldn't receive the Eucharist.) It was about 96 degrees in Kansas City and the church was so hot, I had to get up in the middle of the sermon and go outside. (No a/c in most churches in 1963.) I was afraid I was going to faint. I felt pretty lousy the rest of the day from the heat and cramps, so I went off schedule. That's the first time I went off for that reason.
     I went back on schedule Monday morning and I'm flying with a girl who is #3 in seniority in K.C. and she's very nice. The other girl has been flying 6 years and my flying partner is on reserve and has been flying 4 months. She's good for a new one too.
      We had Bobby Rydell on flight. He's a rock & roll singer and was in the movie "Bye Bye Birdie". Flying on a jet is sure different from the connie. This is my first flight coast to coast (LAX to IDL- Idlewild in NY - before JFK). on a Boeing 707. We only have 30 people in coach. What a joy it is to work a flight like this. It's been real smooth all the way. Up front they have Royal Ambassador service, which I'm not qualified for yet, and had never seen. It's fantastic!!! They use a cart to set the tables, and the china is white with a red stripe and "R/A" on it. You wouldn't believe it! The captain announced when we went over the Grand Canyon, and then the wheat fields over Kansas - there's big circles in them - that's how they irrigate. Flying like this is so different, I don't believe it. I even got to talk to almost everybody. How interesting to hear about their travels, family and such. Now this is what this job is all about! We layover in N.Y. for 17 hours and we're going to try to go to a Broadway play. By the way, I am writing this as everyone is either sleeping or reading and I don't want to disturb them by "aisle talking" - I already did my "talk to the passenger duty".
     I am so looking forward to next spring. (Transferring to International Flying out of NY) Even if Helen doesn't go, I'm going to. I had a French woman on our flight to NY who couldn't speak English. I was so proud of myself when I could tell her what time it was in French. She was pleased too.
         Love, Tish


September 4, 1963

Dear Mother,
     What a trip! Besides the man who was deathly ill, other things happened. I had Joey Bishop on flight from LAS to LA. They didn't even know he was going to be on because no one told us. I didn't recognize him until I was passing gum and candy and he said "No thank you." Then I could tell by his voice. I looked at him several times before I talked to him. Then I said, "Aren't you Joey Bishop?", and he took off his glasses and said "It is I". He was very nice. I asked him if he was going to be on the Jack Parr show soon, and he said no because the sponsor wouldn't let him. Mmmm....wonder what that's about?
    Then we had a little scare from LAX to ORD. After take off and the seat belt sign was off, there was a loud bang that sounded like it came from the cargo compartment. I was working the back, and the girl up front came back and said the cockpit door flew open and they asked if there was any smoke in the cabin. Then later, before we landed, one of the girls was in the cockpit and the F/O said maybe we blew a tire and asked the Engineer how much fuel we had. She left the cockpit with her heart pounding after hearing all this, and came back and told us. The girl I was working with and I started reviewing the emergency procedures in our book. She wanted to check the slide by the galley door, and pulled it out too far. The pin snapped and the slide started coming out! Well, I almost died. The little hole the pin goes into is so small - and we had to stuff it back in....somehow! Well, we got it in, but then we weren't sure it would even inflate if we did have an evacuation!  So I had to tell the engineer to have it repacked in ORD, which caused a delay! I was so embarrassed, but the dumb girl didn't want to be the one to tell them. I told that girl not to pull it out too far, but she wanted to see the whole thing. Stupid! To top it off, she had broken some glasses and all the tiny pieces still were on the floor, so when I was kneeling on the floor trying to get the slide in, and she was just standing there saying "oh no, oh no!", I ran both of my stockings and they were my last pair. Each run was about an inch wide. I don't want to fly with that girl again.
     Well, I am so glad I am over that Ken Boyle. I never will hook up with a motorcycle cop as long as I live. I just have to be sure I don't make any more illegal U-turns - ha ha. I talked to Larry today (Ken's best buddy) and he said Ken has moved. You'll probably have a fit - he moved out to a horse farm out at Swope Park. Larry said it's getting so bad, he comes to work with horse shit on his boots. I really laughed. Larry can make things sound so funny. He said at least he's occupied and he hasn't gone out with a girl once since our break-up.
     Ron called me last Sat. and we talked. It seems like he took the hint of me not enjoying necking very much. (What???? and I'm telling my mother this????) He asked me if I was mad at him, so I went into explanation of how I am, etc. (This is hilarious to me.) I told him I wasn't "that kind of girl", and I got the same statement I've always had before in return. He said there weren't many girls like that, etc. I'm beginning to think this is a line as there certainly must be plenty more. (I'm shaking my head as I type this as I can hardly remember "that girl" who was 21 going on 22 years old.)
     Love, Tish