I MET TWO BEAUTIFUL SMART WOMEN

Over the weekend, I had a very nice conversation with two smart women. And honestly, I was attracted to one of them.

I know KK (and some of you) is raising here eyebrows now, but what the heck, I was honestly smitten (dami kung "honestly", mukhang defensive).

Rochie arrived last Saturday from Doha. She had two nights layover in Manila before she will fly back to Qatar. Early Sunday morning she called me informing me that we will be joining the 8:45 service of the Union Church of Manila and will be bringing with her two of her fellow flight attendants from Qatar Airways.

I met Marilou of Argentina and Malina of India. Marilou looks like a typical Latina. Curly hair, some freckles on her face and an aquiline nose that betrays her Spanish ancestry. Marilou speaks English with a Latin accent. Malina, on the other hand, is a statuesque dark beauty with deep-seated eyes and a soulful look on her face. She is grace and beauty personified. A goddess. (Now, you know who I was attracted to) Malina speaks English the way an educated Indian does.

We are very comfortable with each other that over some Egg McMuffin and Egg Omelet at Mc Donalds right after the service and only minutes after we are introduced to each other, our discussions were already as profound as the poverty of our respective countries and as personal as the choices that we made in life.

Prior to that, while we were walking towards Mc Donalds, I asked them if they watched "View from the Top", a film about flight attendants starring Gwyneth Paltrow. They all answered "yes". When I asked them what was their reaction to the film, Marilou declared, "we are not that stupid." She said the film was a stereotypical presentation of a Flight Attendant.

I realized that life of a flight attendant is never that easy. Sure you've got to travel to the beautiful cities in the world for free plus a reasonable allowance (200 US Dollars for every long flight) and free first class hotel accommodation. But you also have to sacrifice something. First, you've got to be separated from your family. Marilou confided that she lost her father two months ago and she felt bad that she wasn't there when her father was struggling for life. Secondly, while the work demands that you appear sweet, caring and charming, the same job demands presence of mind and alertness and the ability to handle difficult customers with finesse. Now, you may want to dismiss this by saying, "well it's not something unusual, in our job we ordinarily handle demanding clients", but try handling a difficult client while your body is tired because for most of the duration of the flight (that is ten hours for Doha-Manila) you have been standing and handling over food trays, coffee and other beverages while trying to maintain your balance as the plane moves. Most importantly, a flight attendant is there not just as your "dignified waitress" but they are also there to keep you secure (in every sense of the word) in your flights. The pilots are there only to make certain that the plane takes of, fly and land safely. The rest are in the hands of the cabin crews whose responsibilities include, among others, handling a panic-stricken passenger, a racist passenger (Rochie told me one time that once a British passenger declared right on her face that "you Filipinos are nothing but worth five dollars") and on the extreme, possible terrorist attacks.

Malina said that she loves flying, but she does not look at it as a lifetime career. She used to fly with KLM Air before KLM's base in Bombay, India closed. She said after working for more than two years in the airline, your body will start to show some signs of fatigue and you would grow tired.

It is really a pleasant thing having nice intelligent conversation with women. You know, ladies, we men (no matter what our sexuality are) can sometimes be tired with all your whines about men and your chatters about who is cute or not. I am always genuinely interested with women who can talk to me about other things, other than men or other people's lives. While the stereotypes of women flights attendants are vain persons who are only concerned with how they look, these two ladies broke that stereotype. Marilou and Malina went to the church with no make up at all and wearing casual clothes. Both admitted that they only wear make up when they are boarded on the plain (which made me wonder, how beautiful could Malina be when is totally made up). And most importantly, they are not detached from the reality. Both are concerned with the poverty of their respective countries and have a wide grasp of knowledge on the culprit of that problem. Both are thankful that they were educated and even if they don't approve of any practice (Rochie was telling us how people in Munich would just lie in the park naked, and some were even groping), they have an open mind and respect other people's lifestyle.

I am thankful that I met these women. Meeting beautiful and smart women and having good conversation with them is indeed a treat.

Now, now, now, I know my lady friends would surely react upon reading this piece. Don't worry ladies, to quote the last line of the new KFC commercial, "don't worry, you're smart naman eh." Hehehehehehe.