Psychic Vampires

Just returned from two consecutive trips from to and from AMS. I must be far more frayed from this job than I thought when a friend i.m.-ed me today asking me if I was working today. "No. F--king. Way." ...was my reply. I'm not sure if passengers are getting weirder and more high-maintenance or if my patience is going down. But there are people out there that just DRAIN you...or seem deliberately to step on your toes...or don't even have the most rudimentary social-interaction skills. You can have indignity upon indignity heaped upon you, you can endure a BARRAGE of undiluted stupidity and rudeness and you're supposed to have this breezy, professional, pleasant demeanor. Unfortunately, my bullshit-tolerance level isn't UP there. (I could NEVER be a waiter. God Bless those people whose paychecks depend upon the whims of a capricious public.) So I do my best to ignore things, walk away from ridiculous melodramas, and be innocuous once my service is done. The brutal cuts from upper management have morale WAAAAY down. So you draw into yourself, try to ignore the morale-decaying rumors, and make it through another trip. Try to focus on the good people. We had to divert into Brussels the other day. Our Captain was gallant enough to make an announcement kindly prompting them NOT to vent their frustrations on the cabin-crew. It was a simple act of kindness that made our bleary-eyed 2-hour sit there a bit more bearable. Ah, the glamour of air-travel