When you tell someone you are a pilot, why do they do that hand gesture?

[8inMan]

"this one time, on American, we hit an air pocket..."

Yes! Everyone feels compelled to tell you their scary flying experiences. "We were getting bounced all over the place! Have you ever had that?"

 

[1973Arrow]

Yes! Everyone feels compelled to tell you their scary flying experiences. "We were getting bounced all over the place! Have you ever had that?"

Or the time their luggage got lost in Kalamazo...

 

[RichardRambone]

Usually they always say "Oh there's some good money in that." Give me a break. I keep trying to explain that its not the case but the explanation could end up into a 30 minute conversation. So yeah I usually go with "I'm the manager at the Geek Squad."

 

[SkyBoy1981]

I don't tell people what I do for a living. If they ask I tell then I work for a Mfg. company. They don't need to know what I do for the company.Most people have no idea how or why a corporate flight Dept. operates and trying to explain gets old. I usually change the subject.

HEADWIND

Agreed. I used to do the same when I flew corporate.

 

[agpilot34]

When I used to fly ag and tell people I was an ag pilot, I got the same old standard response; "Oh, you're one of those CRAZY pilots". That occasionally was followed up by "I saw a cropduster almost crash one time...", usually uttered by someone who had never set foot on a farm, and wouldnt know an ag aircraft from a Bonanza. Of course, living in a small town, EVERYONE knows what you do for a living. People here know I fly pipeline patrol, and I swear I hear this one no less than 3 times a week; "was that you that flew over my house yesterday?"

 

[AA717driver]

"Do you ever get scared?"

Yeah, whenever I look at who's running my airline... TC

 

[180ToTheMarker]

"Do you really know what all those buttons do?"

 

[sky37d]

My favorite is how far can you go.
I tell them 3 hours, then I get out and go to the bathroom.
Of course, if it's a good looking woman, I say, all night.

 

[avbug]

I've never seen anybody do the hand gesture.

I was flying with the VP of a company, and on a day off we took a ride down a river. A girl in the boat asked him what we did, and he told her. She asked if we ever wanted to fly commercially. He politely said yes, we were commercial pilots. She asked him if his goal was to fly for the airlines. Bearing in mind he was the owner and VP of a tanker operation, and he was well into his career and unlikely to change, he looked embarassed about how to answer.

He finally replied, "That would be...a...step...down."

I started laughing so hard I nearly fell out of the boat.

He was right.

When people ask what I do for a living, I have to be honest.

"I'm still not sure."

 

[Carl_Spackler]

My favorite is:

"Have you ever been to an airport for the first time?"

No Joke.

 

[Catbert]

She asked him if his goal was to fly for the airlines.

Yep, that's gotta be the most common question I get. Most people asking me seem to think that all those "other" planes flying over their heads are just classrooms and stepping stones. WTF?

By the same line of thinking, I suppose they'd assume all nurses want to be doctors.

 

[gkrangers]

Yep, that's gotta be the most common question I get. Most people asking me seem to think that all those "other" planes flying over their heads are just classrooms and stepping stones. WTF?

By the same line of thinking, I suppose they'd assume all nurses want to be doctors.

Well..the pilot profession IS largely based on a system of stepping stones. Not for everyone, but in general, thats the way it is.

 

[Catbert]

Well..the pilot profession IS largely based on a system of stepping stones. Not for everyone, but in general, thats the way it is.

True enough. As a CFI I'm wobbling around on the first stone myself. It just floors me that most people who ask that question never even consider the idea that someone would *want* to fly something other than an airliner.

 

[edmulroy]

...She asked him if his goal was to fly for the airlines...

If she meets someone who has a driver's license does she ask them if their goal is to drive a bus?

 

[Otto Coarsen]

The worst is when people ask if you can get them free tickets. And somehow whether you're flight instructing, flying freight, or whatever, they still expect you to be able to get them positive space business class on UAL to Tokyo. Even if they just met you...

 

[avbug]

A few years back National Geogaphic did a program on aerial firefighting and air tanker operations. (my .01 moment of fame...I was in a shot, but you have to freeze frame it to even tell--and then someone has to tell you what you're seeing, and I did do some of the flying in the show). Among others, they picked a well known figure in the industry to interview. This person has flown just about everything that's been used to drop retardant, and has been at it for a long time now.

They were after exciting stories of death and mayhem, something like the action scenes in the movie "always," I suppose. Bill insisted that they interview him in a coin-op laundrymat. They tried asking if anything exciting had happened. He told them that once he got the coloreds mixed with the whites and ruined a load of laundry. Or about the time he got a machine that had been used to wash jeans, and it messed up the entire batch. They asked about what it takes to be in the field doing what he did. He began telling them that the most important thing when you get into town is to find the right laundrymat. And then he went into excruciating detail (as only he can) about just what that process involves.

Another long time name was most concerned, and opined at great length, about the water that was available to drink at the tanker base. In fact, he was obcessed with it. Over all, I don't think the great heroics and drama that the producers were trying to elicit was there to be had. The most exciting story circulating, and one they finall used, was that of the Santa Barbara Nixon burger...a hamburger that Nixon had taken one bite from, and discarded when he passed through the SBA tanker base one day (the base is a presidential secure site...a real shocker if you've ever been there).

One of the pilots preserved the burger by sticking it in the freezer, where it eventually became freeze dried and preserved forever. It became the base mascot, even appearing on the base tee-shirts (Santa Barbara Air Attack Base, Home of the Nixon Burger, with a hamburger with one bite out of it, at the center of a pair of wings). Rivalries set up trying to steal the nixon burger, and ultimately one of Aero Union's Captains enshrined it in lucite by using a tupperware bowl with clear plastic to seal it forever. Following the show, a lot of money was offered for the nixon burger, and a request came for it from a national library, as well as the Smithsonian.

Not really what National Geographic, or the drama hungry public was looking for, but it was the most exciting thing they could come up with for the show, so they ran with it.

What do you want to be when you grow up, son?

Why would I grow up?

You can't fly airplanes forever. Some day you'll need to show some responsibility and get a real job.

Many moons ago I was dating a young lady, and had an opportunity to speak with her father. I mentioned to him that I was concerned that she was dating me for me, and that she might be attracted to the idea that I was a pilot, instead. He started laughing. Uncomfortably so. He pointed out that both he and his wife had doctorates, with experience and accolades in their chosen fields. He said,

"Do you really think after growing up seeing parents with real credentials that she'd be naive enough to be impressed by you being a pilot? That's ridiculous. Of course she likes you. Impressed by your job? That's a good one. That's really good."

It is possible to be 5'9" and still actually feel 1" tall. Weight watchers should try it out. It really works.