A nice tasty Reese's peanut butter cup awaited me in the flightdeck as I climbed in this morning. It was as if someone was thinking of me. I don't know how you are, but I certainly appreciated it. Someone, in this job, was doing something nice for someone else. A tried and true rarity in this industry. All I can say is, "Thank you!" Then again, you may also be pissed because you were just in a hurry to get to your overnight and left your Reese's there by accident. Either way, I'm still grateful. Shortly after landing at our first destination, I noticed a flight of four F-16s passing by, low level. The formation was obvious. Especially when one of them pulled hard up away from the rest. The unmistakable, Missing Man Formation. To me, as I sat there in the flight deck looking through the windscreen while passengers were getting on, that formation meant only one thing. A military burial. Seeing things like that make to take a step back and just re-evaluate your day.
Ironically, not long at all after that flyby, an MD-88 pulled up and parked next to us. Two soldiers, in full dress, were off the plane first, escorted down the ramp. Again, there's only one thing that would mean. A deceased US soldier was aboard. I watched silently as the casket was brought out of the aft cargo compartment, and loaded into the waiting hearse. Again, seeing things like that really make you take a step back.
Now, while I don't believe the flyby was for the same individual whom I witnessed taking their last flight, (could have been) both events still really got my attention. As much as I complain about my job, workload, lack of sleep, lack of pay, lack of any respect from the company, etc, I am still alive and healthy as my job search continues in an effort to put the regionals in my rear view mirror. I have one good prospect right now. I'm just waiting to hear back. All I can do now, is just sit here, remember and appreciate the sacrifices of others, and enjoy my Reese's.
