"Interesting Encounters" v. 2

So, I am on a break between flights, and I walk 'briskly' from our gate (roughly G18, or the end of the known universe) down to the Bagel joint at the base of the concourse. As I am walking, I notice a man whose dress (this is at 0630, in the spring,) could best be described as "Mid season Huggy Bear." (See image at right.)

Except, with a fur coat. (??)

So I continue on my merry way. As I am walking back to the flight, I am somewhat behind a gal walking through the concourse. I am maybe 15 steps behind her. She is in a college grey sweatshirt and jeans. She has curves. She's not fat... she just has curves.

Mr Huggy Bear is walking towards us. As he passes the girl in front of me, he raises his right hand to the brim of his hat, and says "Lady..." as he walks by, and bends the brim a smidge.

Then as he continues past her, he turns his entire upper body to watch her derriere go past. He slows his walk a bit to admire her walk, and then as he straightens up to walk forward again, he sees me, just a few steps away. He says, in his best Isaac Hayes voice;

"That.... was fiiiine."

I love the airport....

File this under "Interesting Encounters."

One of the great things about my job, is the people that you meet, the friendships that you make, and what we get to see on a daily basis.

Aaahhh... the people that we meet. Not just coworkers... So I have a few stories here.

This is 2 stories in 1, but they dovetail together nicely...

So I am in Cleveland. We have landed a little bit early, since the weather is nice, and I went to the gate to check for trip trades, etc. (This is really common... if your schedule is at the mercy of someone else, you will really find ways to make your life better, even if it means swapping all of your flying around, so that it works better for you, your family, it is worth more for the same amount of time of being gone, etc...) As I was coming back down the jetbridge, There was a little back-up getting on the plane. There were 2 young ladies getting on the flight; big backpacks, etc. I chatted them up (hard to imagine me doing that!) As it turns out, they are college girls, but they are on their way to Lebanon (if I remember right,) to do some charity work there as missionaries. They work using art with handicapped children. How cool is that? They get physically and mentally handicapped children to express what they are thinking through painting and sculpture, and they use that as part of their therapy. This is just cool stuff all around.

So they were talking about the airplane, and how smallll it is, etc, and I invited them to come up and visit before we left, in the flight deck. (Ours is small, after all. Not really a flight deck, per se... more like a flight step.

So they came up, and got a kick out of how complicated everything is, and all the pretty colors, etc, but it was a fun visit.

When we got into Chicago, they were in the terminal as we exited the airplane, so we started chatting again. They had decided, when they were going to travel, that they wanted to make more of an adventure of the trip, so they had read some travel books together, and they did find one thing that they wanted to do.

Here we go to part 2---

I had to fly through DFW a few weeks later. I was "Deadheading," which means I was just being moved from DFW to ORD so that I could get back after being stuck somewhere. I stopped at Mickey D's on my way down, and on the jetbridge, the lady in front of me also had stopped at the same place (most likely... highly unlikely she was carrying her french fries all the way from off the airport...)

We exchanged pleasantries, and then we were boarding. As I got to my row, and my seat, the gal from the jetbridge was sitting in the window seat, and I had the aisle seat.

• Just so you know, that has NEVER happened, in 22 years of airline work. I've gone down hundreds of jetbridges, taken hundreds (literally, no joke) of flights as a passenger, and I have never ended up next to the person I was chatting with on the jetbridge.

So, I sat down, and we continued chatting about McDonald's, etc. I asked her if she wanted to have a little fun, and she said "sure!," so I raised my voice to 'slightly obnoxious' level, and stated "Oh, I see you also ordered your McDonald's through American Airline's website. Isn't that great! What great service, and a great idea." We had a good 20 or so people looking at us, and I kind of wonder how many tried to find that link.

We had a good flight to ORD. Believe it or not, I don't talk the ears off of the person next to me when we fly. Many many of our fellow passengers are on business, and the last thing they want when they need a nap is someone blabbing on and on and on. She wanted to chat, so I am usually up for that (also hard to believe!)

So, come to find out--- We grew up about 6 blocks from each other. She was on the other side of Hometown, in Oak Lawn. I went to Catholic school, she went to public schools. We knew a bunch of the same people, and, of course, all the same locations, etc.. etc...

She had an amazing story. She had been hit by a car at an intersection, flown through the air, and landed on her head. She had extensive brain trauma, some of which she was/is still coping with. She was in Northwestern Memorial at the same time that I was there for my little problem 3 years ago. She was flying home from Dallas, where a company had finally taken a chance on her, and she was loving being back at work (you don't know what you've got till it's gone...) She was down there for training, and was headed home. She still suffered some problems, but she was coping well. The rest of her life was not, though.

She had finally realized that she was not living her dreams... nearly dying can focus that for you pretty well. We talked about that, and I tried to encourage her to seek some of those out; Not totally throw her life into the trash heap and start over, but find the things that motivated her the most, the she loved doing the most, and find ways to bring those closer into her life. Because... I am lucky enough to be living my dream.

Here is where they come together...

So I am talking with these 2 girls in the airport in Chicago, and they tell me that they wanted me to be the first for something for them. So they tell me that in one of the books that they had read, this man who was traveling the world, had a pouch of dominoes, that he had written sayings upon, and he was randomly giving them out to people that he met, but had impacted his travels. So these 2 wanted me to be the first person who got a domino.

I was floored... How very cool!

So they opened up the pouch, and I pulled out a domino. On it, it said "Live Your Dreams." I remember thinking how great that was, because I am living my dreams! So, we parted ways, and they went to the Middle East, and hopefully they had a great adventure....

So I am sitting next to this girl on this flight from DFW... and she is talking about how she has wanted to try to live her dreams, and maybe now she finally can, and I realize----

I still have the domino in my jacket pocket.

... And I realize something else....

I tell her (her name is Andrea,) that I have some thing for her. I tell her the story of meeting these 2 girls on the jetbridge, etc, and everything else. When I get to the part of taking the domino out, I pull the domino out of my jacket, and show it to her. She reads it out loud "Live Your Dreams." She smiles at me, and I said "Andrea, this was not for me. I am living my dreams... there are no coincidences. I picked this domino, because I am supposed to give it to you. I am just the currier. This was meant for you." And I handed her the domino. When we got off the airplane, she said that is probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever given her. I told her I hope she gets many more and nicer things, but she has a little reminder that maybe she should be living her dreams, at least a little bit.

I hope she is living her dreams... even just a little.

New Hires, and new flying

This is interesting....

So, my very first trip off of IOE; I have been "signed off," so I have checked all the boxes to be a Captain.

1 Completed Captain training (duh)

2 Competed 25 hours of Initial Operating Experience

3 Flew a "Line Check" (AE policy)

4 Flew a FAA Observation Ride

So, being based in Chicago-ORD, my very first trip would, of course, have me being sent to Dallas to fly some trip out of there. Sheesh... lol.

That went well. Had a decent FO, who has quite a bit of experience. Nothing eventful, either. Nice to be flying.

Second trip off of IOE--- I get to fly with an FO who is doing his first trip off of IOE. Talk about new guys! To top it off, we were flying to Atlanta, an airport I have only been to once, and that was about a year ago. Needless to say, my FO has not been there. OK, this might be interesting.

Went smooooth as silk. This kid (he's 23) reallly has his crap together. Yikes, I can only hope I was somewhere this competent when I was hired.. I hope I was. He was ahead of the game, had his head in the right place, and he flared a little high on touchdown, but that is ok... he only had 50 hours in the airplane, for Pete's Sake.

MY next trip was a Newark trip (we're flying a LOT of CRJ trips, because the airplane, for some reason, seems to be rather unreliable. Great.)

This time it was my FOs second trip off of IOE. I'm getting them not just new, but REALLY new. But again, I was floored; these guys can fly, and they know their stuff (I know, you would hope, but really, you're just hoping.. ;) ) Talk about a great time flying.

I think I am going to enjoy this Captain stuff.

My 3rd or 4th trip (they are starting to blend together,) I got to fly with my sim partner from training! Keith! We had to go up to Rochester, MN to pick up an airplane that someone had hit. MNTC was up there, they had already repaired the bird (so scheduling said.. HA HA HA,) and we were just ferrying it back. Piece o'cake.

So we get up there, and of course it is not fixed.

• Short note about RST. I love this station. My last trip as an FO went through RST, and my first trip as a CA went through there. The people there are great, and when Mary, one of the agents there, saw that it was me in the "Driver's seat," she bounced into the airplane and gave me a big hug to say congrats. The station is like a big family, and she even shared her birthday cake with me and my crew, because they were happy to see me in the Left Seat. That is a good station to fly into.

The Mechanics had ordered some pizzas, so that was good. They shared with us (like I said, it is a good station.) The funny part, was Keith asking if it was always like 'this.' How do you explain that? The food? the deadheading to pick up airplanes? The fun agents? Maintenance? Scheduling? Yes, it is always like that, and sometimes it is never like that. What the heck else to say? lol.

So I flew a trip a few days ago. Dig this-- I've been in my seat longer than anyone else that was in the airplane. Yup. I was signed off on Halloween, October 31st. I 'became' a Captain on November 1st. My FO was signed off of IOE on November 7th. My F/A was signed off of her IOE on November 12th. Yup... all of us finished training within the last 3 weeks.

There has to be something not quite legal about that. They were a really good crew, though. We had a great time, and I finally got to buy my crew a beer at the overnight. And then it was happy hour, so we had a free one after that (I treated that... lol.)

I also flew some overtime out of DFW. We can pick up OT out of base, as long as we get ourselves too and from the trip. First trip - Monroe, Louisiana. The weather was decent when we left, but there was bad weather moving in that we didn't know about. So we got stuck in MLU for a couple of hours. The restaurant has shrimp etouffee on special, but of course, I had eaten earlier, and could not take advantage of it... grrrr... in Loosana, and a full tummy so can't eat the good grub... :( Boo me.

So this extended our flight till late late. I still had to get to Cincinatti and back to Dallas before I could head home. Well, I was not even close to making my trip home, so I got to spend the night in a non-reclining recliner in the crew lounge. Oh, the joys... lol.

But it was worth it for the $$. Seriously....

So back to flying for now, and the Reserve lifestyle.

Cheers!

Scott

Second half of IOE, and more!

So I continue on my journey...

(btw, sorry for the long breaks here...)

My second round of IOE was with Tom Tanzola. Tom was probably the 2nd person I met when I was a newhire FO, in "Indoc." He was transitioning to Captain, from the BizEx buyout. So it was good to be flying with him, too. (Aside from the fact that I have a few thousand hours more in the airplane than he does.. ;) )

After what happened with Conn, the first thing he said to me was that he had "all his hockey gear with him, ready to go." I was not sure if he was kidding or not. I still do not know.

We had a great time flying, but the end of his sequence did not line up with when I could fly with a Fed observer, so they had to break me off the sequence, and I flew with another CA for that. Then, I was still short of my 25 hours of IOE, so I got paired up with Tom again for a quick blast off to Montreal, and voila, I was a Captain... on my 10 year anniversary as a pilot for Eagle.

It was pretty amazing. It is pretty amazing. The first time, as a new Captain, you finish the push-back, have the engines started, and then you get to do something you never get to do as an FO. You engage the tiller. You see, only the Captain "drives" the airplane on the ground. Yes, if you know what you are doing, you can 'drive' from the right seat, but really, you are not supposed to.

And something changes. Suddenly, if anything happens, it's all you. The FO looks to his/her left, whenever they have a question... the FA looks to you to answer things. You set the tone, and you are the final arbitrator of anything that happens in the aircraft. The Buck Stops Here.

I flew with a friend who used to say something as a joke. "O.k., you see this invisible line (and draws an invisible line with his hand down the middle of the cockpit.) Everything on my side of this line is mine, and everything on THAT side of the line is mine, too, because I am the Captain." And it sounds silly, but in a way, you have to train your mind to think that way, just a little bit. The Buck really does stop here. Your ticket is on the line every time you fly. Once the door is closed, it's all you.

It really does change the way you think. The way you act. It should.

Hopefully you walk a little taller, too. It's a big thing, like it or not.

We get to do something very special, with our jobs. I had forgotten I used to say this, but it is true-----

"I have the best job in the world. I get to bring people to and from their dreams."

All of their dreams. I've flown soldiers home to their families; Newlyweds on their first journey as a married couple; long lost relatives to their family reunions.

I've also flown a young father (late 20s) of 2 pretty little girls on part of his journey to bury his wife, who had died far too young... Yes, when our FA told me, both of us in the cockpit teared up. Nightmares are dreams too, after all. Part of what we do is just try to make the journey comfortable.

I'm blessed to get to do what I do. How many people really do love their jobs? How many people get to work with the great people that I get to work with, a number of whom have become friends for life. And just about every time I get to work, I get to meet someone new, see something new, hear a new story, and have fun. They also pay me! (dig that!)

Sweet, by any measure.

Cheers,

Scott