Monday, September 20, 2010

Oops...

I lost a unam.

A unam is an unaccompanied minor. For my first trip back, I wanted to go to Dublin and to do so, I had to work the purser position - the service manager - meaning I was in charge of making announcements, selling duty free, and responsible for the delivery of the unaccompanied minor. She was older, about 14, and had flown by herself before and lied to me when she said she knew the rules. Obviously she missed the part when I told her not to go running off the plane upon our arrival, and that I would come and collect her. I was seated at door 1, we use door 2 for deplaning and by the time I was out of the bathroom, she was long gone. I gave her passport and information to the gate agent so she could find her and get her out of the country... only to discover as we were leaving immigration that she made it out of the immigration hall without her passport and the gate agent had yet to locate her. Awesome. So now not only have I lost her, but apparently the Irish government just lets anyone come waltzing into their country. I so desperately wanted to ask one of the agents the following morning what happened but it wasn't anyone who had dealt with the situation initially and I certainly was not going to rat myself out. So 14 yr old Samantha, who runs away and can't follow directions, where ever you might be, I hope someone who you know collected you at the airport and that Ireland beefs up their immigration policy... like requiring passports...

2 comments:

Krampus said...

Teenagers are the worst! Unbelievable.

Unknown said...

we have a Persian expression, "hung by the butt" (i.e.,being screwed) which is exactly what happens to a FA who loses a UM. be careful with those brats, uh.