dsee8driver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2001
- Posts
- 364
I received this from a friend thought I share it..
GLAD I WAS THERE
I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for
everyone to hurry and stow their carry ons and grab a
seat so we could start what I was sure to be a long
and uneventful flight home. With the huge capacity and
slow moving people taking their time to stuff luggage
far too big for the overhead and never paying much
attention to holding up the growing line behind them,
I simply shook my head knowing that this flight was
not starting out very well and although I had a great
bunch of meetings while conducting business on this
trip, it was quickly becoming tarnished with these
delays in my getting home to my loved one whom I had
not seen in several days.
The meetings although fruitful were long and I had not
slept well, not to mention those blasted new dress
shoes that rubbed a blister on my heel. I was pretty
focused on "my" issues and just felt like standing up
and yelling for some of these clowns to get their act
together and focus on taking their seats. Knowing I
couldn't say anything that would really help, I just
thumbed thru the sky mall widget magazine from the
seat pocket in front of me. You know it's really
getting rough when you resort to the over priced and
mostly useless sky mall crap to break the monotony and inconvenience of the trouble "I" was going thru. With everyone finally on board and seated, we just sat there with the cabin door open and seemingly no one in any hurry to get us going even though we were well past our scheduled take off time. The paper work had not yet come in to the flight deck, the attendants just stood around talking.
No wonder the airline industry is in trouble I told
myself. Don't they realize we have some place we are
supposed to be? We should be treated with more
importance, after all we are the customers, right?
Just then, the attendant came on the intercom to
inform us all "that we were being delayed"...as she
paused, the entire plane let out a collective groan.
She resumed her announcement, 'we are holding the
aircraft for some very special people who are on their
way to the plane and that the delay should not be more
than five more minutes. Their connecting flight had
traveled a long way and we would get underway just as
soon as possible."
Now, I have had this happen to me before and more
often than not, I had to catch the next flight or even
go to another carrier to get to my destination. Still,
I was grateful for the times when they waited for me,
so I thought that I would go back to my sky mall pages
and try to forget just how much "I" was being
inconvenienced.
As the word came from a scrambling attendant down the connecting tunnel to the main cabin door I thought that maybe she had some information that would let us know why we had been sitting there for over 30 minutes!! Had someone finally given word that after waiting six times as long as we were first promised that "I" was finally going to be on my way home? Why the hoopla over these folks? Just get their butts in a seat and lets hit the gas, I thought to myself.
After a few minutes we were all "locked on" when the
attendant came back on the speaker, semi expecting
some celebrity or sport figure to be announced as the
reason the aircraft was delayed so long. I thought who
cares, let's go! She announced in a loud and excited
voice that we were being joined by several United
States Marines returning home from Iraq!!!! Just as
they walked onboard the entire plane erupted into
applause. The Men were a bit taken by the surprise of
the 340+ people cheering for them as they searched for
their seats. It didn't stop, they were having their
hands shook and touched by almost everyone who was
within an arm's distance of them as they tried to push
thru the aisles. Whistles, cheering, an occasional
"oorrahh", one elderly woman kissed the hand of one of
the Marines as he passed by her, and the applause
didn't stop for a long time as they continued toward
the back of the aircraft.
When we finally got air born I am sure I was not the
only civilian checking his conscious as to the
"delays" in me getting home from my "hard business
meetings", finding my easy chair and remote, a cold
beverage, and tending to my blister". In fact I felt
pretty stupid as I am sure many did. After what these
Men had done for all of us, and I had been complaining
silently about "me" and "my issues"?
It sure made me realize that as much as I told myself
that I didn't take for granted some of the everyday
freedoms I enjoy and the conveniences of the American
way of life and that it sometimes seems like a
personal attack on one of us when things don't go
exactly right...I was doing exactly that. I was taking
it for granted. I took it for granted when others who
had really paid the price for my ability to moan and
complain
(even if it was just to myself)...let alone a few
minutes delay to me so that those HEROES could go home
to their loved ones.
I attempted to get my selfish outlook back in order
and minutes before we landed I suggested to the
attendant that she announced over the speaker a request
for everyone to remain in their seats until our Hero's
were allowed to gather their things and be first off
the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the
last Marine stepped off and we all rose to go about
our too often taken for granted everyday freedoms....
I felt Proud of Them. I felt it an Honor and a
privilege to be among the first to welcome them home
and say Thank You for a job well done.
I vowed that I will never forget that flight nor the
lesson learned. I have said it before but I can't say
it enough, THANK YOU to those VETERANS and ACTIVE
SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN who may read this, and a prayer
everyday for those who cannot because they are no
longer with us. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
ANON
GLAD I WAS THERE
I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for
everyone to hurry and stow their carry ons and grab a
seat so we could start what I was sure to be a long
and uneventful flight home. With the huge capacity and
slow moving people taking their time to stuff luggage
far too big for the overhead and never paying much
attention to holding up the growing line behind them,
I simply shook my head knowing that this flight was
not starting out very well and although I had a great
bunch of meetings while conducting business on this
trip, it was quickly becoming tarnished with these
delays in my getting home to my loved one whom I had
not seen in several days.
The meetings although fruitful were long and I had not
slept well, not to mention those blasted new dress
shoes that rubbed a blister on my heel. I was pretty
focused on "my" issues and just felt like standing up
and yelling for some of these clowns to get their act
together and focus on taking their seats. Knowing I
couldn't say anything that would really help, I just
thumbed thru the sky mall widget magazine from the
seat pocket in front of me. You know it's really
getting rough when you resort to the over priced and
mostly useless sky mall crap to break the monotony and inconvenience of the trouble "I" was going thru. With everyone finally on board and seated, we just sat there with the cabin door open and seemingly no one in any hurry to get us going even though we were well past our scheduled take off time. The paper work had not yet come in to the flight deck, the attendants just stood around talking.
No wonder the airline industry is in trouble I told
myself. Don't they realize we have some place we are
supposed to be? We should be treated with more
importance, after all we are the customers, right?
Just then, the attendant came on the intercom to
inform us all "that we were being delayed"...as she
paused, the entire plane let out a collective groan.
She resumed her announcement, 'we are holding the
aircraft for some very special people who are on their
way to the plane and that the delay should not be more
than five more minutes. Their connecting flight had
traveled a long way and we would get underway just as
soon as possible."
Now, I have had this happen to me before and more
often than not, I had to catch the next flight or even
go to another carrier to get to my destination. Still,
I was grateful for the times when they waited for me,
so I thought that I would go back to my sky mall pages
and try to forget just how much "I" was being
inconvenienced.
As the word came from a scrambling attendant down the connecting tunnel to the main cabin door I thought that maybe she had some information that would let us know why we had been sitting there for over 30 minutes!! Had someone finally given word that after waiting six times as long as we were first promised that "I" was finally going to be on my way home? Why the hoopla over these folks? Just get their butts in a seat and lets hit the gas, I thought to myself.
After a few minutes we were all "locked on" when the
attendant came back on the speaker, semi expecting
some celebrity or sport figure to be announced as the
reason the aircraft was delayed so long. I thought who
cares, let's go! She announced in a loud and excited
voice that we were being joined by several United
States Marines returning home from Iraq!!!! Just as
they walked onboard the entire plane erupted into
applause. The Men were a bit taken by the surprise of
the 340+ people cheering for them as they searched for
their seats. It didn't stop, they were having their
hands shook and touched by almost everyone who was
within an arm's distance of them as they tried to push
thru the aisles. Whistles, cheering, an occasional
"oorrahh", one elderly woman kissed the hand of one of
the Marines as he passed by her, and the applause
didn't stop for a long time as they continued toward
the back of the aircraft.
When we finally got air born I am sure I was not the
only civilian checking his conscious as to the
"delays" in me getting home from my "hard business
meetings", finding my easy chair and remote, a cold
beverage, and tending to my blister". In fact I felt
pretty stupid as I am sure many did. After what these
Men had done for all of us, and I had been complaining
silently about "me" and "my issues"?
It sure made me realize that as much as I told myself
that I didn't take for granted some of the everyday
freedoms I enjoy and the conveniences of the American
way of life and that it sometimes seems like a
personal attack on one of us when things don't go
exactly right...I was doing exactly that. I was taking
it for granted. I took it for granted when others who
had really paid the price for my ability to moan and
complain
(even if it was just to myself)...let alone a few
minutes delay to me so that those HEROES could go home
to their loved ones.
I attempted to get my selfish outlook back in order
and minutes before we landed I suggested to the
attendant that she announced over the speaker a request
for everyone to remain in their seats until our Hero's
were allowed to gather their things and be first off
the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the
last Marine stepped off and we all rose to go about
our too often taken for granted everyday freedoms....
I felt Proud of Them. I felt it an Honor and a
privilege to be among the first to welcome them home
and say Thank You for a job well done.
I vowed that I will never forget that flight nor the
lesson learned. I have said it before but I can't say
it enough, THANK YOU to those VETERANS and ACTIVE
SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN who may read this, and a prayer
everyday for those who cannot because they are no
longer with us. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
ANON
