I read an interview with a flight attendant somewhere recently (probably linked from somewhere on FT, or maybe someone posted it on Facebook or a blog or something), but one comment that stood out to me was that, on American carriers at least, the senior FAs prefer to work the coach cabin as it's much less demanding and so usually bid that and leave the person with the lowest seniority up front.

That's an interesting contrast to the foreign carriers, which usually have a pay differential for working the F cabin, so on those carriers, the most senior crewmembers typically serve up front. Hmm...wonder why the service is often better on those airlines.