Flight attendants explain real meaning behind their secret ‘Coke or stroke’ code that goes straight over passenger's heads
Flight attendants have revealed the real meaning behind their secret ‘Coke or stroke’ code that goes straight over the passengers’ heads.
If you’ve ever wondered how crew members get important messages across to each other mid-flight while they’re in the cabin, apparently it’s through code.
And one flight attendant has lifted the lid on what one particular code phrase actually means.
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According to Kat Kamalani, there are a lot of things stewards do during the flight that always go unnoticed.
On her TikTok, she has been sharing all of the secrets she has learnt in the job, including the reason why there is always a crew member there to greet you onboard.
In a video, she said: “Have you ever walked on a plane and saw the flight attendants standing right here greeting you? Or the flight attendants walking up and down the aisle?
“Well I'm about to tell you what we're really doing.
“So, when you're walking on the airplane and you see our happy, smiling face - we're actually looking you up and down and we are trying to find our ABPs.
“And what that is called is our able body people or person - so, these are people who are going to help us in an emergency. For example, military personnel, firefighters, nurses, doctors.
“So, in case of an emergency, like a medical emergency or we are going to land the plane or there's a security breach, we know who is on our plane and who can help us.
“But, we're also looking for one more thing - beside from looking for things that don't belong on the plane, like a boxful of liquids - we're looking for human trafficking.
“It happens a lot in the industry and our passengers' safety is our number one priority.”
And, of course, it doesn’t stop there - once the ABPs have been identified and holidaymakers are in their seats, the call bells start to ring, meaning the passenger needs the attention of a flight attendant. At this point, the member of staff has no idea what it is they’re about to be expected to deal with, so they live by one simple motto.
Writing for The Sun, one flight attendant explained: “Our motto for the call bell is ‘Coke or stroke’ - as in it could be someone wanting a drink, or it could be a medical emergency.
“We never know what it's going to be, so we have to respond as quickly as possible.”
Fortunately, the flight attendant goes on to explain that it's rarely an emergency.
“Most of the time, before the plane has even started moving, it’s people complaining or asking us to move them to a better seat,” they wrote.