Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Galley Gossip: 20 ways to use a maxi pad in flight

by Heather Poole (RSS feed) on Sep 1st 2009 at 9:30AM

Before I share the list - 20 ways to use a maxi-pad in flight, I first must explain
how this post even came to be. I don't want you to think I spend my time sitting around thinking about maxi pads. Trust me, there's a method to the madness.

So there I sat at La Guardia airport in New York inside flight service operations, relaxing in a beat up, reclining chair, not watching the weather channel on the screen in front of me. I'd been sitting there for hours due to the fact it was my turn to serve standby. For those of you who aren't familiar with airline lingo, standby is a term used when flight attendants on reserve are required to spend three to six hours, depending on the airline, at the airport just sitting around and waiting to be called out to work a flight in case someone doesn't show up at the last minute. At my airline, this happens once or twice every reserve month.

On that particular day Sean sat in the recliner beside me. He'd been cracking me up since the moment I'd sat down. Now I've written about Sean in the past. In fact, he was the lead flight attendant, the one in charge, in the Galley Gossip post about a child who had gotten lost in first class. At some point our conversation turned serious and Sean shared a story about a medical emergency that forced him to become quite resourceful and do something that impressed me greatly. He used a maxi pad as a bandaid.

"You're brilliant, Sean. You really are. I would have never thought of doing something like that," I said, and that's when it hit me, "hey, we should make a list of all the different ways we could use a maxi pad in flight!" We didn't make the list, but we did laugh about it.

Flash forward three months later. On a flight to Los Angeles, I walked into the galley, looked up, and saw it - a maxi pad shoved between two ceiling panels. It was there to soak up condensation that would otherwise drip on me. Right then and there I knew I had to make the list, and with the help of my crew, flight attendants who never cease to amaze me, we came up with 20 unique ways to use a maxi pad in flight.

The day after the list was created a passenger on our flight back to New York stepped into the galley, held out a white sleeve, and in a British accent asked, "Do you have anything I can use to get this off of me?" Red lint covered her white cotton blouse. "It's from the blanket!"

"I'm sorry," said one of my coworkers. "There's nothing we can really do...except give you a few wet paper towels to wipe it off."

"But I've got somewhere important to be when I get off this flight and I can't go looking like this!" she exclaimed, shaking both arms at us.

If we hadn't made the list the day before, I would have never thought of using a maxi-pad as a lint brush, which means I would have never said, "Well...there is something we can use..." I nodded my head in the direction of the lavatory, smiling mischievously.

Heather, one of my colleagues, explained to the passenger that a strip of tape on the back of a maxi pad could be used to remove the lint- that is if she didn't mind patting herself down with it. The passenger just nodded and then disappeared into the lav.

Two minutes later the passenger spun around in the galley and sang, "It worked! Thank you so very much."

20 WAYS TO USE A MAXI-PAD IN FLIGHT...

Headrest
Oven mitts
Light shade
Condensation absorbent.
Towel
Mop
Bag handle
Hair remover
Band aid
Tape
Arm rest
Eye mask
Lint brush
Curtain holder
Shoe insole
Cool compress
Beer koozie
Coffee filter
Post-it note
YOU TELL ME!

That's right, this is your chance to channel your inner flight attendant and come up with an interesting way to use a maxi-pad. Just leave a comment below and I'll choose the best idea. May the best wanna-be flight attendant win!

And just when you think you're done with a post, you go to flickr.com to search for photos to go along with your bizarre post and find this...

(just had to share!)

Photos courtesy of (smiling girl) pinkcandylemon, (hair tie back) Hyesterical Bertha, (blister cover) Elizabeth Mcquern

Filed under: Airlines, Video, Galley Gossip

Search Travel Deals

Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

Jamie Rhein Sep 3rd 2009 1:27PM

Heather, this post cracked me up. I was even laughing later in the car when replaying the movie in my head.

If you used a few pads, you might be able to fashion a neck brace pillow in order to avoid the floppy head issue if you're on an aisle seat.

With a few strokes of a pen, you could make it look a little like a car to entertain a bored kid. --or draw a face on it to make a doll.

If you fastened one on each ear, you could probably cancel out some of the flight noise.

Heather Poole Sep 4th 2009 10:36AM

Why didn't I think of that! Brilliant! I totally could have used a maxi pad neck pillow on my last commuter flight home. I hate doing the head bob thing while trying to sleep. Next time. :)

Heather Poole Sep 4th 2009 10:54AM

Btw, YOU WON! Well...you're one of the winners. GOOD JOB. Scroll down to read more

Interliner Sep 2nd 2009 2:42PM

Oh gosh, hysterical - someone else already came up with one of mine (Over the ears as noise-mufflers) but how about armrest bolsters? I always bunch up a sweater or a blanket to put on the oh-so-hard and uncomfortable armrest, but everything always slips around. Shoot, paste one on each armrest, they won't move and your elbow will love you :)

Nichole Sep 2nd 2009 5:28PM

I once used a maxi pad to protect my camera when I was trying to sneak it into a concert without the case!
It worked! HAHAHAA

Heather Poole Sep 4th 2009 10:32AM

OMG, I've done that too!

Capt. Bonez Sep 2nd 2009 8:12PM

I loved the beer Koozie idea! I'm the Captain of an offshore fishing boat and we have a large supply in our first aid kit to uses as bandages. When we fish in tournaments we often use a tampon to stop the bleeding from a gaff hole in a fish after bringing it aboard. (don't' want to loose the blood weight)

Heather Poole Sep 4th 2009 10:35AM

A captain of an offshore fishing boat is actually reading my blog! Wow...I am flattered. Do me a favor and take a picture of all you manly men on the boat drinking bear with a maxi pad koozi! I love it.

Heather Poole Sep 4th 2009 10:55AM

I've picked a winner! Actually, there are two winners...

SKY and JAMIE RHEIN!

As a flight attendant, I love the idea of using the sticky side of a pad to clean up glass shards in the galley. I KNOW I'll be using this trick in the future and will always think of you, Sky.

As a passenger and a person who just loves weird quirky things, I love the idea making a maxi pad "neck brace" in order to sleep more comfortably, because there's nothing worse than doing the head bob all flight long. And as a flight attendant, there's nothing better than a flight full of happily sleeping passengers.

suze1111 Sep 4th 2009 11:41PM

Years ago I was standing in the galley and the captain came out of the flight deck, straight to the bathroom and came out with a pad. Standing in front of all passengers staring at him, he began dabbing his tie with a pad (dipped in a little club soda). He had spilled mustard on his tie while "enjoying" his crew meal and the pad does not leave lint and a mess like a paper towel. The stain was completely gone!

Holly Chatelain (WanderTot) Sep 9th 2009 11:04AM

Hilarious! As a mom, I have used a diaper for similar situations. It's great for mopping up spills, etc. So, if you ever find yourself in need of something bigger and even more absorbent, there you go.

Erin J Sep 10th 2009 8:32AM

Well, I'm not in the airline business but I have come across a couple of interesting ways to use maxi pads. First was back in high school band when we had to wear these god awful helmets as part of our marching uniform. There was a silver star like shape attached to the front which had 2 or 3 prongs that stuck through the inside and poked you in the forhead. The best method of preventing an irritating headache and marks on your forhead, was to stick a maxi pad to the inside covering the prongs, padding your forhead and as an added bonus, it soaked up any sweat that might otherwise drip in your eyes making it difficult to stay in line :)

The other use I discovered this summer while working at a summer camp. Myself and a coworker were asked to go to a unit where we had a lice issue occurring, in an effort to contain the problem to the one or two kids. While the kids were being treated with a shampoo and comb, we were given specific instructions on how to manage this situation. We jumped into my jeep and drove up to this unit at 10pm armed only with a bottle of bleach. When we arrived on the scene, we realized that we had no way of applying the bleach to the beds and I had recently cleaned out my jeep and had nothing in the way of a towel or even tissues, or so I thought... I opened my center console and was thrilled to find a bag of maxi pads staring me right in the face. After a brief moment of wondering if this would work, we pulled out two always ultrathin overnights with wings, stood in front of the jeep headlights to see what we were doing when we stuck them to our hands and applied the bleach. We took a few minutes to crack up with the hillarity of the situation and paused to take a quick picture before completing the task at hand. We have since created the maxi club for other such situations.

I hope these were helpful.

DeniseC Sep 16th 2009 1:26PM

Just had to comment and say thank you.

We had an incident at work today where someone got cut badly. This blog poped into my head and I knew what to use as an emergency bandage.