Interesting Story

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 thru 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 inconvenience of the trouble "I" was going thru.

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 paper work 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 had traveled a long way and we would get underway 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.

As the word came from a scrambling attendant down the connecting tunnel to the main cabin door 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 home? Why the hoopla over these folks? Just get their butts in a seat and lets hit the gas, I thought to myself.

After a few minutes we were all "locked on" when the attendant came back on the speaker, semi 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 thru 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 conscious as to the "delays" in me 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...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 to me 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 Hero's were allowed to gather their things and be first off the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped off and we all rose to go about our too often taken for granted everyday freedoms....

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.

I SAT IN MY SEAT OF THE BOEING 767

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 , 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.

I was anxious to get home to see my loved ones so I was focused on
"my" issues and just felt like standing up and yelling for some of these
clowns
to get their act together. I knew I couldn't say a word so I just thumbed
thru the "Sky Mall" magazine from the seat pocket in front of me. You know
it's really getting rough when you resort to the over priced, useless sky
mall crap to break the monotony. With everyone finally seated, we just
sat there with the cabin door open and no one in any hurry to get us going
although we were well past the scheduled take off time. No wonder the
airline
industry is in trouble I told myself.

Just then, the attendant came on the intercom to inform us all that we were
being delayed. The entire plane let out a collective groan. She resumed
speaking to say "We are holding the
aircraft for some very special people who are on their way to the plane and
the delay shouldn't be more than 5 minutes. The word came after waiting six
times as long as we were promised that "I" was finally going to be on my
way
home. Why the hoopla over "these" folks? I was expecting some celebrity
or sport figure to be the reason for the hold up.........Just get their
butts
in a seat and lets hit the gas I thought.

The attendant came back on the speaker to announce in a loud and excited
voice that several U. S. Marines returning home from Iraq were joining us!!!

Just as they walked on board, the entire plane erupted into applause. The
men were a bit taken by surprise by the 340 people cheering for them as they
searched for their seats. They were
Having their hands shook and touched by almost everyone who was within an
arm's distance of them as they passed down the aisle. One elderly woman
kissed the hand of one of the Marines as he passed by her. The applause,
whistles and
cheering didn't stop for a long time.

When we were finally airborne, "I" was not the only civilian checking his
conscience as to the delays in "me" getting home, finding my easy chair, a
cold beverage and the remote in my hand.
These men had done for all of us and I had been complaining silently about
"me" and "my" issues. I took for granted the everyday freedoms I enjoy and
the conveniences of the American way of life I took for granted others paid
the price for my ability to moan and complain about a few minutes delay to
"me" those Heroes going 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 announce over the speaker a
request for everyone to remain in their seats until our hero's were allowed
to gather their things and be first off the plane.

The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped off and we
all rose to go about our too often taken for granted everyday
freedoms......... 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 can't
say it enough, THANK YOU to those Veterans and active servicemen and women
who may read this and a prayer for those who cannot because they are no
longer with us.

WELCOME HOME! AND THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE !!!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

I'm glad you got an uplifting email today and thanks for sharing it. I've been on the hit list for Bush bashing and today of all days, I just had enough. I wrote this in reply and mass mailed it to those who claim to be lovers of light and world peace, but who have been so sucked into the liberal agenda, they can't see they're on the side of evil. I wrote this out this morning and have shared it on another thread - enjoy:

September 11 - the second anniversary of the attack on America - a day that 3,000 people were instantly killed by terrorist who hate our freedom

I probably shouldn't have opened up the email printed below, but I thought maybe it was just another one of those harmless jokes, ribbing me about the Prez. Hey, I can take a joke, I can keep it light - but today, of all days, these emails really busted my tolerance for mis-guided hate against G.W. Bush.

Yeah, it's hard to accept that a frat boy is saving the lives of millions of women and children, liberating countries from the oppression of insane dictators, kicking the ass of hate filled terrorist, and cleaning up the carpet stains left by the previous impeached President.

I am grateful every day that we have a sober, honest President who surrounds himself with sober experienced people, who are accomplishing amazing feats of organization and liberation.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 woke a lot of people up from their cozy slumber. I want to say to those who attack G.W. Bush - where were you when we had a pathological liar, drug addict, and rapist in the White House? I was marching in front of the White House yelling the truth to all who would listen - our country is in trouble. We have a corrupt government, wake up and learn what is going on! This "Nero" is fiddling while Rome burns!

In 1982 I marched in Washington against our involvement in the genocide of Central American Mayan people - I am not strictly for one party or the other. In early 1999 I was a leader in a rally held in DC. There I met people who knew the truth of a lying corrupt government. Later in 1999 I marched in Austin. Once again in 2000, I marched in Houston when corrupt polling places spindle- punched Gore votes and sent the 2000 election into the courts. I know what a lying, corrupt president and administration smells like.

Bush-haters are going down the wrong trail and are five years behind the curve. The truth is that we have exactly who this country needs to guide us beyond the blows to our gut we have suffered. Now is the time to register voters, send encouraging email to our volunteer troops, put patriotic bumper stickers on our car, and thank God every day that you were born here and not in some hell hole run by an insane fundamentalist. Thank God you are not sitting under a burka, hoping that the free world knows about your hell and will come and help you.

The low IQ frat boy sent the help, targeted the enemy, and has liberated two countries in two years. This country's leadership has led, not lied. Are you rejoicing that finally this country is doing the right thing, or do you unquestioningly repeat hate filled slurs against our country's divine ability. This isn't the time to believe crap that has an agenda to undermine our strength and solidarity against an enemy that wants to kill us. Insane people want to KILL us. I want a real man, a cowboy, a fighter, a man with a code of honor and responsibility to be in charge. I want somebody in the White House who can land a jet fighter on an aircraft and who can drop a bomb on a house full of killers. I want a leader who says, OK lets spend 87 billion dollars if that's what it takes, to rid the world of evil.

I take a lot of heat for my politics, but I am right, I am informed, I take action. I absolutely rejoice that George W. Bush and his advisors are in charge of this war.
Blessings,
******

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