B767 Flight Attendant describes events surrounding a diversion for electrical fumes prior to an Atlantic crossing.

Narrative

I CANNOT stress enough about the jobs the Captain and purser did during the entire event!! When we departed; Purser told us the landing gear would be down after takeoff due to an inoperative fire warning light in cockpit. 'If' a fire occurred; the air would put it out. It was a precaution! Soon after we started our beverage service an 'odor' permeated most of the cabin on left side; anything from electrical; burning plastic! Passengers and flight attendants commented on it. Flight Attendant #1 noticed it when she came back to unlock duty free carts in mid galley. She sent the Relief Pilot back to check on smell. We were a little over half way thru with beverage service when it was announced we were landing at a divert station and told to prepare for an emergency landing. We got manuals; did demos and as Flight Attendant #9 [flow control] I took bags and collected all service items from Coach and Business Class. We landed without incident. Passengers were taken inside terminal with all belongings. Soon after we were told we would be going to JFK SAME DAY!!! It went downhill from there! Maintenance came on and 'checked' things out! The aircraft was being checked to be sent out again. When electrical was turned off smell/odor subsided. They thought it had something to do with packs. Never could come up with definitive answer/reason for the problem. Captain said the plane had NUMEROUS problems (that was putting it mildly). He refused to take it after asking managers if they would put their lives/jobs on line to guarantee nothing would go wrong. Flight attendants had reached a common ground that we would NOT work this aircraft unless we were guaranteed they knew WHAT caused the problem and that it had been fixed. Managers said they had no idea how far away we'd have to stay because of many venues in town! We did not care! So; we suddenly end up on our way to crew hotel. In canvassing flight attendants no one slept well or hardly at all. I was filled with anxiety thinking about my passengers crying and terrified; I barely slept. The staff did not seem to have much regard for 'the human factor' of the incident; passengers or flight crew. No; we did not crash BUT we had to prepare as if we were. WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE WORKED HOME! We weren't aware of our anxiety ridden and brink of tears fragility until we worked back.