eager listeners how important it is to shave the armpits. And yes, that includes the gentleman in this class, she declared with a face of obvious disgust. Who knows what experience she must have had with men, real or imaginative? Amazing how painful it seemed to be for her to talk of those things, being a nurse. One would imagine all nurses have experienced worse situations in reality, so talking couldn’t be so painful. But in those days many subjects where taboo. Not like nowadays where everything in in the open and will be discussed even on television, like: “Dr. Oz or The Doctors.”
Regardless, she continued to talk about shaving. It is imperative to shave the legs, but the man in this class is excused, she announced with a big smile, exposing her impeccable dentures. She talked about her recent travel in Europe where she had noticed a considerable number of women with unshaven legs. It wouldn’t have bothered her too much, but those females wore nylon stockings, utterly repulsive and she emphasized it by making a face like she had taken an enormous bite out of a lemon. Her whole body was shuddering in disgust. Everybody feared she would vomit any moment but they had to fight very hard not to show any enjoyment.
A knock at the door, a container with coffee, creamers, and sugar, paper cups, was delivered.
Exactly the way it was provisioned on the airplanes.
“Short recession,” she announced and continued to give information where to find the rest rooms on this floor and lit up a cigarette. Nobody believed their eyes seeing her smoking. Miss Mazoor (The classmates had christened her “Miss Razoor,” after the lesson of shaving different parts of the body), smiled and explained how unhealthy this bad habit was and permitted her students to smoke also. (After all it was at a time when TV adds by cigarette companies were abundant. Doctors endorsed their favorite brands and the huge advertisement of a “Camel” cigarette smoking face, puffed gigantic clouds of vapor over Times-Square.)
Her whole attitude had changed all of a sudden into a pleasant jovial very likeable lady. She sat with her students as if they had been friends for a long time. They were on an equal level, all the way. Only to return, after the break, to the same old authority spinster, she had been before.
This was for the European members the strangest experience they had ever encountered with a teacher. It was another image to grasp the American way.
Another topic in those three days of medical education, for first aid, were the comprehensive instructions given to aid a child birth. Every flight attendant must be able to replace a midwife. Miss Mazoor had developed a routine to demonstrate the step by step procedure to follow when a pregnant woman becomes a mother. It happens often on airplanes that a sudden urge of an unborn occurs to enter this world. The reason is the drop of air pressure at high altitudes in the cabin. It can also be observed to transpire at times of hurricanes when the same condition is present.
Before she initiated her demonstration of a child birth, she asked her class who had witnessed such an event. Just a few girls put her hands up and so did Herbert. When he was questioned how and where, he explained to have been present at his daughter’s birth. This was, however, not true at all. He figured it would ease the tension for the girls, as he would be looked at as an expert in this matter. His wife had told him so many times of this important event, he could have been there at such a significant experience for a young couple. Those topics were not discussed openly at the time when this happened. None of the girls were married as one requirement to become a stewardess, which did not apply to male flight attendants.
Miss Mazoor put a chair on a table with the backrest down, where the two legs up in the air representing a woman in such a position, which triggered a nervous giggle by some girls. She draped the upper legs of the chair with bed linen, which were provisioned on long haul piston airplanes with upper and lower berth. A play doll was used to represent a new-born baby. Newspapers and an aluminum pan (containers where the prepared food was delivered by the caterers), were put aside to hold the afterbirth for a later exam by a doctor at the next airport, where an ambulance would be standing by to transport mother and the new-born child to the nearest hospital. The ambulance will be ordered in advance by radio transmission.
Also the first aid kit was present, which contained several twain threats and scissors to bind and cut the umbilical cord.
With all the paraphernalia handy, the simulated birth of the play-doll could begin.
She particularized with very explicit details step by step how a normal birth will take place. To emphasize her dialog, she handed out pictures, some in color of close ups starting with the first sight of the baby’s head to show up, or just hair, in some cases. Some of the classmates got almost cross-eyed looking at these pictures, losing the coloring in their faces. Others were obviously embarrassed or even having their stomachs turning. The two girls sitting on either side of Herbert one to hand the pictures to him and the other to take them, didn’t know where to look and how to act, being in this painful situation. While Miss Mazoor kept on explaining those pictures with a seemingly diabolic satisfaction seeing the unpleasant effects on these young girls, pointing out that many of them will experience those endeavors when they become mothers.
With a big grin, she is nodding her head, asking,
“Is there anybody who would like to be excused?”
Nobody dared to do so.
She didn’t forget to mention that it had never applied to herself because being single, how could it be? Who knows what her purpose was to mention it. Maybe she was under the impression talking to three year old children.
Now she announced to show a film, in color of course (at this time, it was still not a normal thing on 16 mm film), of a normal child birth.
She underscored again, it will be very drastic and explicit, and she had to tell the students, that in earlier classes, girls had been passing out during the show.
Was she hoping the power of suggestion would work?
The film was planned to be shown the following day.
This assemblage of tormented bodies, discussed how to master getting through this presentation without showing their oppressor any weakness.
They were tormented bodies, because every day a lot of inoculations were given to face a world of germs and diseases.
The movie was shown and nobody passed out, but it was detected, many of the spellbound observers had their eyes closed or looked somewhere else, but not at the presentation.
Fortunately Miss Mazoor did not face the audience but looked at the display.
Afterwards she announced her admiration and congratulation to this class, being the first one, in her career, where no one had failed.
It was not the only movie the tortured audience had to endure. They had to watch accidents with burns, cuts, and other injuries. Those were all very realistic and gory, made in Hollywood, especially for the training of fire fighters, police, coastguard and military. Not easy to watch. One has to swallow a lot not to get sick to the stomach. It is the same feeling when a doctor put the tongue depressor too deep and gagging occurs. How many times did you see in the movie theaters a film where young to-be doctors observe their first live operation and keel over at the moment when the scalpel draws blood? The whole audience roars with laughter. It will terminate abruptly when it is you, being confronted with a similar situation.
These hours of torment seem to last forever but did finally end and this group of flight attendants to-be found themselves in the subway to Kew Gardens where the home, away from home was.
VERY FEW PEOPLE SHOWED UP FOR DINNER, THIS EVENING!
