I Dream of Jetlag

After 12 Years in the Sky, a Flight Attendant Braces for Furloughs and Adjusts to Life on the Ground

Last year, a time in history I want to mark as 2019 BC—that is, Before COVID—I was at the height of my flight attendant career. I had just reached the top of the pay scale at a major airline. Globe-trotting was not only my job but also my pastime. In March, 2019, I took a three-week vacation to Southeast Asia with a group of friends; we toured North Vietnam like Anthony Bourdain, took a midnight train to Da Nang, cruised on a long-tail boat on the Mekong Delta, and went …