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

[gkrangers]

Ya know, where they pretend they are holding a yoke and turn it left and right.

I mean, wtf?

I don't do that to you if you tell me you drive a car or something....

 

[Hadhafang]

Sorry, can't say that anyone has done that to me yet. It seems like most people feel obligated to tell you about their uncle, cousin, brother, great-aunt-three-times-removed who is/was a pilot. People will ask me, "What do you do for a living?" When I answer that I am a pilot, they will always tell me about some person they know who is a pilot, or of a flying experience that they had when flying. I guess the general public just can't relate to us, so they try to continue a conversation the best they can. Well, I guess I wouldn't expect them to be able to talk about the cause of ground effect or what FAR 91 deals with. We pilots are a unique breed.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Then they tell me what they do for a living. And I make this up and down motion with my fist. Then they just leave.

 

[Stealthh21]

Then they tell me what they do for a living. And I make this up and down motion with my fist. Then they just leave.

That's too funny.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Whew! I thought this was about upraised middle fingers from ant-airport people.

 

[CFIcare]

Then they tell me what they do for a living. And I make this up and down motion with my fist. Then they just leave.

I though this was funny....then I saw your avatar and the image burned a hole in my retinas. Bacon anyone?

 

[dsee8driver]

I though this was funny....then I saw your avatar and the image burned a hole in my retinas. Bacon anyone?

I was thinking the same thing...... strong tailgate..

 

[Turkey Shoot]

I though this was funny....then I saw your avatar and the image burned a hole in my retinas. Bacon anyone?

I dunno. I think she's sorta hot in MidWest cute kind of way. Roll that babe in flour and then........... Damn, I feel dirty.

 

[urflyingme?!]

Dude, that's my little brother's girlfriend. If you think she's ugly you should see his last chick! At least this one can stand....

 

[FN FAL]

Ya know, where they pretend they are holding a yoke and turn it left and right.

I mean, wtf?

I don't do that to you if you tell me you drive a car or something....

Every time someone tells me they work at a music shop, I always pretend I have water bong and do the imaginary carburetor thingie with my finger and make sucking water bubble sounds (saw the technique in a cheech y chong movie or was it jay and silent bob? who knows, maybe even 20/20).

 

[91100 100 set]

While I was discussing a date to return to work with my occupational therapist, and we were discussing my various job duties, she did that hand gesture. I was trying to describe the various things I would have to do (mostly regarding my right thumb and the variety of buttons and switches it has to activate). She asked me "don't you guys have to hold onto the controls all the time?". No, it's not like Airplane, with the two guys hanging on for dear life the whole time. She was surprised that typically, we only have our hands on the yoke maybe 2 or 3 minutes on each end of the flight, and it's far from a death grip.

 

[Carl_Spackler]

Do you know Bob Jones, he's a 747 pilot for NWA?

When are you gonna fly the big ones?

Who's Pinnacle, SkyWest, Comair, Mesaba etc?

What is your route?

 

[Slice121]

Doesn't it scare you to be flying all those people around?

Why are we delayed? There's no weather problems, my husband says it clear over in xxx!

 

[8inMan]

Back when I was a flight instructor the most common thing I heard was "You're a flight instructor? Does that mean you can even fly by yourself?"

 

[$$$4nothin]

The best one. Oh wow, you must be really rich. I just laugh and walk away, or give them the middle finger and walk away. Depending on my mood at the time.

 

[User546]

I once had someone make the comment, upon me telling them I was a Flight Instructor: "Ohhh, so you must really be making the big money!" Uhh, yeaaa...

I read the first couple of posts to my wife and she was laughing hard. She says when she tells people that I'm a pilot, she gets asked some of the stupidest questions as well. I think the part about people just can't related, so they have to tell you something relatively stupid, hit the nail right on the head.

 

[Carl_Spackler]

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

 

[XGmaninGA]

I usually just tell people that I'm a rabbi.

 

[Resume Writer]

No, I have the best one. I told a guy that I was a flight attendant at one time. He said, "Did you travel?"

Here's your sign......

What I should have told him was that I just went from plane to plane pre-flighting emergency equipment, but never left the airport!

 

[Headwind]

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

 

[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.