On the way back to the Tokyo hotel, I bit into a piece of candy.
Red ginseng candy that I have never tried before, even with my own money.
The words my grandmother spoke seemed to echo faintly in the street where the sound of a carrier being pulled echoed.

“First, let’s settle this.
“Do good first, then give back.”
Some people are remembered for the things they said or the stories they told.
The old lady passenger that day remains with me with this line.
I thought for a moment about what I would say to someone in their memory.

---From "That's right, first give it to me"

The passenger finally smiled faintly and said, “It’s pretty.”
Then, suddenly, the plane shook violently, and a passenger who had lost his senses shouted, reaching out to the hair of a male passenger standing above the seat in front of him.

“Ouch! I want to grab this old man’s head!”
The front seat passenger's hair loss was already quite advanced.
I was so surprised that I pushed my head back.

“No! Grab my hair! My hair is longer and easier to hold!”
I blurted it out without even knowing what I was saying, thinking that I shouldn't cause any harm to other passengers.
The passengers next to me burst into laughter, and only then did the embarrassment begin to wash over me.

---From "We Support Each Other"

A new domestic airline announced its intention to avoid sexual commercialization and focus on safety by introducing genderless uniforms in 2020.
In 2019, British Airways removed its rule requiring cabin crew to wear makeup.
And one domestic airline I interviewed with still requires applicants to wear their skirt uniforms during the final interview and hold them to the same standards.
After putting on my uniform and approaching the interviewers at their request, I approached them half an arm's length away and stood there blankly. I felt that they were evaluating me based on my body, not my thoughts and will.

---From "The Inescapable Swamp of the 'Flight Attendant Image'"

Those of us who work on the front lines of service have developed a resilience that is unfazed by any noise.
In order to sleep well and go to work the next day, and to live like a human being, I have to learn the skill of ignoring and covering up the verbal abuse rather than focusing on it.
Even so, “Kneel down.
No one is completely okay with something like, “Next time I’ll come looking for you with a knife.”
Even though I've learned how to properly deal with and respond to situations where customers are going wild, my heart still feels cold whenever I hear words that threaten my safety.
When the expression on your face disappears due to the cruelty that seems to cut into your heart, it becomes an excuse to listen to more verbal abuse.
That person doesn't know.
How scared and lonely we are.
How overwhelming it is to feel the unreachable distance.
How stiff you actually are to show a consistent smile.
It can be like that because you don't know.
Because I don't know.
Because you don't even want to know.

---From "If we can remain a comfort to each other rather than a threat"