I noticed that! I thought I'd said something wrong and had no idea what I'd said. So. I guess I had. Very reminiscent of real life. Ehhh.
THANK YOU, by the way. That lady you said I look like is GORGEOUS! I've never had a high self esteem, or an esteem. Maybe it's just not existed, because physical appearance matters little to me. But I can say I blushed and grinned all the same.
Being a flight attendant probably helped me grow, with what struggles I've faced. What I mean by that is I had a friend who was a forensic scientist and she hate hate hated doing things outside of her shell, but she joined the cheerleaders in high school to make herself more well-rounded. So, as a social experiment and because it was the only job I could get in aviation, I went skyward in a skirt.
I've never been "grounded" in any sense of the word, so the travel aspect, getting away from my "nurturing" mother and "protective" father (we'll leave that there) was great for me. I learned all the things most people learn the VERY hard ways: public transportation, being late on rent, almost getting fired because I missed phone calls from crew scheduling due to fatigue burn out.
You see, being around the public was DRAINING. I enjoyed the third position the most, because it had the least interaction with the public. The first (front) position got to go to the flight deck, which was fun, but if you had "all business, no play" pilots, they would just want their coffee, then they'd shove you out. Some pilots would let you stay up there longer, because they knew how demanding people are when flying. And I'd say people get more outrageous when they're in a moving hotel in the sky. No trash can? Oh look, there's a pocket on the seat in front of me! Someone ELSE pissed me off? Oh look, there's a nice girl waiting on me hand and foot to yell at!
BUT there were very good times. I'd have people try to tip me, tell me I'm pretty, or ask if I'd be on their return flight. Very nice folks and great locations where I'd get up to 30 hour layovers.
I was so good at wearing my costume (I liken most things in my life to comics/novels/tv/film, so my uniform was a costume, complete with bright red lipstick and cateye Cat Woman eyeliner) that when people saw me out of it, they thought I was a different person. (Alter ego, anyone?) I did this for years, being one of the only things I stuck with for so long.
I even earned my private pilot.
All this was before my official diagnosis. It's actually the ONLY reason I am not resentful for not having a diagnosis til 30.
Scratch that, I don't "get" resentment.
It took the doctor no time, just last month, to spot me a mile away. He actually grinned when he told me I am Asperger's. I've been having daily migraines for years. (something I may have told no one...?) Hey, I figure if the 15 minute blindness is a precursor to the migraines and I never had one while flying, then it must mean flying = serenity? A lot of things that happen to me, I'm just now finding out are NOT things that everyone goes through. Being an only child, I don't have sisters or brothers to compare to, or ask, or observe. Even if I did, I'm a very private person.
I used to dream about flying EVERY night when I was a kid. Then I was obsessed with birds, noting each bird's call, flight pattern, markings, habitat, etc. A bird specialist came to my school and had to ask me to stop answering the questions because I was making him look bad. (A joke, but also semi-serious). Then I got into model planes, but they were expensive and my mom thought I should do things "girls do," so I didn't get into flying until flight attendant-ing. I dated someone who did model airplane competitions and I became his caller. SURPRISE, he had Asperger's. We were a dream team. Then I got my private pilot. My instrument will probably never happen because of the migraines, but like I said, I never get head aches while flying (even as an FA, because flying relaxes me). The migraines are all stress-induced.
So.... I think in a "branch" style, always sprouting off into new directions. Stick with me, I eventually get to the point.