Book Review: The Sky is Crazy: Tales from a Trolley Dolly

The Sky is Crazy: Tales from a Trolley Dolly

By Yvonne Lee

Review by Toh Saw Yi

I rarely travel by plane, but author Yvonne Lee made me feel as though I am a regular visitor to the airport and on the plane. Through this book, Yvonne shows you a wild kaleidoscope of tales trawled from a crazy sky where some people unleashed their Mr Hyde within when they thought nobody would care at a height of 35,000 or so feet. This is a story of her extensive experience; she remembers exactly what it was like to be a trolley dolly a.k.a. air stewardess. I know, everyone has a plane story to share, but no one tells it better than the one who sings the “chicken-or-beef, sir?” rhapsody.

The humorous way in which Yvonne had used is the main reason I loved this book. Her anecdotes are peppered with hundreds of laugh-till-you-drop jokes (some of them are rather snide) and her own humorous opinion.  

There is a lot more then just being an air stewardess cum waitress. As Yvonne puts it, she had written that, ‘I saw how many my role encompassesed more than just serving meals and smiles. It also came with many other improvised tasks. I would also be birth attendant, seat changer negotiator, babysitter, weather forecaster and bartender. Let’s not forget bomb searcher, firefighter and first aid giver’. Besides, she is also a ‘dietician, wordsmith, negotiator, professional salesperson, PRO, gastronomic literature ‘regurgitator’’ and etc (If you really want to find out - just READ IT!).

The absurd, yet hilarious, stories of the antics of people cooped up in a cylindrical metal machine are just one of the reasons you want to keep turning the pages. In her book, Yvonne had listed out a few types of flyers who are commonly found on a plane. Some of them are ‘The M16 Speed Chatter’, ‘The Drooling Sleeper’, ‘The Noisy Snorer’, ‘The Shoes-off Flyer’, ‘The Terrible Tots’, ‘The Nose Picker’, ‘The Toothpick User’ and etc (Let’s leave it for you to find it out yourself, shall we?).

But wait! Yvonne does not stop at just introducing a couple of types of flyers; she also listed out the various types of cabin crew that you might meet if you are a stewardess (or if you plan to be). For example, ‘The Joy Luck Club Girls’ who epitomise Madonna’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and The Big Bully, who loves to torment any newcomers. Of course there’s much more than this but I would not want to spoil the surprise for you. You’ll just have to read the book then!

The main theme of this book is that Yvonne’s job as a stewardess has given her access to priceless sights and sounds, allowed her to see colours and cultures (both good and bad) of this complex yet beautiful world. And the best thing is that she would like to share her experience with other people.

Abre los ojos (Meaning ‘Open your eyes’).We should open our eyes wider, and see the world. You will definitely find the variation in every person who makes each of them unique - they are every inch different from us - and, sometimes, it is pretty funny to know how they are different from us.

            If you’re game for a quick laugh (and lots of awesome vocabulary from the ‘trolley dolly’), this book is just the right thing for you!