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Email I just received from my friend Larry at AAA.

This article is long, but it is good. Makes you think about how selfish we all can be at times and how insignificant some of our gripes are! One of my flight attendant friends sent this to me.

Carolyn Sue

PATRIOTISM

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 through 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 nconvenience of the trouble I was going through.

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 paperwork 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 has traveled a long way and we will get under way 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. An attendant scrambling down the connecting tunnel to the main cabin door brought word. 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? Why the hoopla over these folks? Just get their butts in a seat and let's hit the gas, I thought. After a few minutes we were all "locked on" when the attendant came back on the speaker. We were 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 through 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 conscience, thinking of the delays in 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... and 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 - 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 heroes were allowed to gather their things and be first off the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped off. We all rose. 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