Coffee Tea or Me? The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses

A cultural artifact if ever there was one (the illustrations by Playboy's Bill Wenzel tell the tale), this was first adult book I ever read as a child, my introduction to homosexuality, a black man and a white woman in a sexual position, and marijuana. "They looked so normal!" Published October 1967, this is still known in the air steward trade, and in various way howingly funny.

Disclaimer: I stopped reading this book well before half-way.

I bought this book in order to read 2 sassy women's notes from a life of being stewardesses. What I found, was that Donald Bain used a small dash of their stories (and changed their names to Rachel and Trudy), a dash of his own personal flight experiences and a large dose of his imagination. Imagination. Yes, you read that right. He used his imagination [as he states, himself, in the start of the book) and stories an "uninhibited memoir" about 2 women. Two women who were used largely for their marketing appeal.

I really do not think this book should be allowed to be listed as a work of non-fiction. I want to read it though, based off the scathing reviews of how 'controversial' show more it apparently was when it was released. I'll just have to wait until I can convince my brain that it is not truly a memoir, but a work of fiction that is lightly sprinkled with partially true stories. show less

Having read 2 other books previous to this that dealt with being a steward/stewardess I found that this one had a liveliness that the others somewhow missed. This is probably due to the fact that the other two books are more modern day.
I loved the little stories they had to tell...and I think they were very indicative of their timeframe: how women were treated, how secretive men could be, and how much fun it was to travel.

Breezy, lightweight, but fascinating read. Conversational style of prose. Told in first person by Trudy: "Rachel is a tall, rangy blonde with a wide-open face, brown eyes and a breezy personality. She's a go-getter, the one in the crowd who's alway ready with the prod for action.
"I'm a couple of inches shorter than Rachel. My eyes are black, my hair a dark brown and I was the first in line at the dimple factory."

A fun book. Maybe a bit dated but I did enjoy it.

Trudy and Rachel are airline stewardesses that tell of their many adventures, good and bad! This was a fun book.

What a look back at the way flying used to be. Nothing like flying today.
Whenever I'm in need of a good giggle I'm not ashamed to admit that this book fits that description.