It's summer; I wanted to write something more lighthearted and fun. I also made a ridiculously long redeye flight recently and this scenario kind of just popped into my head, any investors want to bring it to life?
I was walking to the subway station after a long day at my midtown Manhattan office when a rather attractive lady stopped me. Normally I blow right by these people, as there are a million of them always offering some promotion, pushing their mixtape into your hands in order to get some cash from you and whatnot. Fortunately for this lady, she was incredibly attractive and looked to be around the same age as me, late twenties, so I was thinking maybe I could flirt a little and see what happened.
"Hello sir, do you travel frequently?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Would you be interested in being a part of a test group for a new airline?"
"What?"
"It's a new airline that will offer something different from your normal flying experience, just take this card and apply online to be part of the test group." She said this is a sickeningly sweet voice and made sure to stand up tall so I could get a good glimpse of her curves. "Trust me, one trip and you will never fly another airline again. And, if you're chosen for the pilot group, you'll be compensated."
Get paid to fly? Hmm...
I took the card from her and kept walking, tucking it away into my pocket before catching the train.
***
On the ride home I kept toying with the card, flipping it back and forth mindlessly, not sure why I was still holding it. The card simply had the name of the airline on one side (Eros Airways) and a website and password on the reverse. I decided that since I had a business trip I had to take out to L.A. in the next few weeks, I may as well look into this "pilot program" and see if I couldn't get paid to make the extremely tedious New York-to-L.A. flight, some extra cash never hurt.
When I got home I fired up the laptop and went to the website listed. Nothing looked out of place, but then I went to the "About Us" section and thought it rather odd that they had individual pictures of all the stewardesses, who were all way too attractive, like the girl who had given me the card on the street. The website as a whole wasn't flashy or anything, and in fact I had trouble finding the application to be a part of the test group. I finally found the rather understated button and entered my password, and up popped a pretty generic looking application.
I filled in all the biographical information and wondered if this was really worth my time to get maybe $50 in the pocket as I listed my job, income level, and interests; but then a question came up that made me do a double take:
How many sexual partners have you had?
What the hell?!
I thought as I passed over that question and scrolled on down, seeing more questions that both confused me and piqued my curiosity:
Have you ever had a sexual encounter in a public space?
Have you engaged in sexual activity with multiple partners at once?
Have you/would you go nude in front of strangers?
There were more along those same lines, they basically wanted to know my entire sexual history and then some. I hesitated between quitting the application or not but as with most virile males, my curiosity and hormones got the best of me, so I answered all the sexual questions. I was experienced, but not in the sort of public, exhibitionist stuff that they seemed to be asking about.
What kind of an airline is this?
I thought as I finally submitted the questionnaire, along with a photo of myself, for consideration.
***
Two weeks later I was about to make my flight arrangements for the trip to L.A. when a new email came through from Eros Airways with "CONGRATULATIONS" in the subject line. Opening the email there was a message that seemed to be from an adult version of Willy Wonka:
Congratulations! You have been selected to be a part of the pilot test group for Eros Airways. We believe that once you have experienced what sets us apart from other airlines, you will never fly anyone but us for the rest of your life. All we ask is that you return the attached confidentiality agreement, and come prepared with an open mind, as Eros is all about having fun with everyone. Your flight will leave from New York's JFK bound for Los Angeles on the 17
th
, please arrive to the terminal early. Thanks for your interest in Eros, we look forward to servicing you!
I read through the attached document and saw that in addition to not having to pay for the flight, they were going to pay $250 to me to be a part of the group. Well, that was all the motivation I needed to sign the confidentiality agreement, and fit in perfectly with when I needed to be in L.A. I wasn't sure why an airline needed confidentiality from a passenger, and the wording of the letter did seem a little off, what was up with them saying "servicing" me? But I shrugged both of those questions off, probably just a typo.
***