Travel

When I started my career in the travel industry I wanted a job. Period.  I knew what I wanted to do, but I also knew that I couldn't get out of school and start right where I wanted to be.
I knew I would have to work my way up to that position and I had a 3-year plan. I was determined to be working in the computer divisions in 3 yrs or less. 

3 months prior to graduation I was offered 2 jobs. 1 of the jobs was part-time at first and then moving to full time eventually. The position was in Dallas for American. I knew that it had the potential to go full time, but it was in Dallas. I did not want to live in Texas. I may have only been 20 something, but I knew me. I had been there. This was a nice place to visit but not for me to live. I am not saying anything bad about Dallas, it just wouldn't  work for me.

The other job was in my hometown where I also did NOT want to live. The job in Dallas was $2 more an hour but no benefits. The job in my hometown was full time, less money, but I could still live with my sister and keep my part time 2nd job. What is a girl to do? I'm broke and have school loans that want to be repaid now. I just needed a job. 

Being with a major carrier was a good thing to movin' on up I thought. Staying at a small regional carrier would be more difficult to get to where I wanted to be.   I so wanted to leave this small town but for Dallas?   I had to make a decision and I had to make it quickly or I wouldn't have either job. 
I actually  talked this over, out loud, which I needed, with a counselor at school. It helped me, but I hated my decision even though I knew it was the right one for that moment in time. I decided to take the job in my hometown. But I would have to fly to work for a year until they moved the entire headquarters to my hometown from Latrobe PA. I was hoping I'd be gone to bigger and better things by then.

I began my new job the first Monday after my graduation. I was all shiny, young, hopeful and naive. I would fly from my hometown to Pittsburgh and then on a very small 7 passenger piper Navajo plane to Latrobe PA to work. I did this every day for 1 year. 

Latrobe Pennsylvania is a very small town. Most known for the home of Arnold Palmer, or beer. 
I believe the population is less than 10,000 folks.  I guess I should have googled it first, but you get the idea.
The airport looked just like the airport on the television show Wings. There was even a lunch counter and an upstairs, exactly like the TV show. A cast of characters as well. Oh boy, was there ever a cast of characters.

When you work for a small airline everyone is young and so damn happy to be flying and/or working in the industry. The pilots are very young and new and trying to get all the hours they can accumulate so that they can move on up to the bigger planes and the bigger companies. This small regional airline flew small turbo props Embraer and the small Navajo I mentioned earlier. We called them starter planes. We were all starter employees too.

Because we are all in the same boat, with big dreams elsewhere, we all bonded. We all could fly for free on the major carriers as well so we all traveled together on days off and all became friends. One of the pilots was an older guy. His name was George. George was a hoot.
Now here I was in my 20's so at that time he seemed ancient to me. I think he may have been 40. I know he flew in Viet Nam during the war. He had war stories. I asked one of the younger pilots why he never left this small carrier. The younger pilot told me that George lives on acreage out in the boonies and likes it that way. He doesn't like the city. He just likes to fly. 

The younger pilots really looked up to him. While he appeared to be a real joker when it came time to flying he was as serious as you want your pilot to be unless....you're hung over.

One evening after I got home I went out with some friends. I stayed out so late that I had enough time to sleep for 2 hrs and get up and head to the airport. Oh I was feeling rough that day, really rough. I deserved it, but I wanted to crawl back in bed and not be flying or working hung over. 
File it all under, dumb things you do when you are under 25.

I saw George walk to the gate and wave to me. He chatted with the woman at the gate counter for a minute and then walked over to me. There were no passengers on this early morning flight that day. They came to just get me. He took one look at me and said, "oh my goodness what the hell happened to you Peg?"  I acted like I had no idea what he meant. I said, "Nothing why?" He laughed and said, "Hung over are we?"  
I said, "We? You better not be George!"  God did I look that bad? 
He laughed and we walked out to the plane. (oh the good ole days) I climbed the steps and he followed. 

I had my fake leather bag that looks like a briefcase crossed with a man's satchel. I had my work in there and my printouts from all the programming items I was to accomplish before work today. Thankfully I had finished everything before I went out that night. 

George and the copilot Warren both told me to sit behind them. I did as I was told. 
We chatted for a bit.  They asked about my evening and things like that. 
I really wasn't feeling well and George said, "lookin' green pretty one"  
Next thing I know they are doing things with the plane and laughing. 
I thought I was going to vomit or die. 
George says, "how did that feel?"   "Like Shit!" I replied.  They laughed. 
I would have said more but I thought I was going to vomit and talking isn't what you want to do when you have that feeling.
Damn, if George doesn't do it again.  It felt like the plane dropped and so did my stomach.
This time I quickly pulled out all my papers and vomited in my bag - twice. 
I yelled, "UNCLE"  and I hit George. They thought this was a damn hoot. 
I didn't enjoy being on a ride like this hung over - he was going to pay I promised myself.

By this time, we were in Latrobe air space and going to land. It was a very quick flight of about 30 minutes.They were laughing at me and I wanted to kill them. I got off the plane, threw my bag into the garbage and realized my nice wooden pen was in that bag. No way I was digging that out!

George yelled for me to have a nice day as I walked ahead of them. I flipped him the bird.
They were laughing so hard and loudly everyone was looking at them.  I wanted to kill him.  
He was so likable you couldn't stay mad for long.  

I went to work and grabbed my toothbrush out of my desk and immediately hit the bathroom. 
When I came back my boss asked what was going on.  I told her what George did. She laughed and said, "Sounds like George"

Yep, he gave me big ones all the time. After I broke my nose he made me laugh so hard on purpose and it hurt to smile. I made the mistake of telling him to stop it. Telling him to stop I realized only encouraged him.  He was always giving me a hard time, but we all loved him. 
He was fun, he was a very good pilot and he was funny like a great comedian.  

One day while having cocktails with him I asked him why he picked on me so much. He said, "Honestly because I can and I like you kid"   
"Gee, I would hate to see what you'd do to me if you didn't like me."  
He said, "I'd do the same thing I do to Rusty."   
And with that comment we both laughed. He was never nice to Rusty so I knew what he meant.
(Rusty was a mechanic who was not really liked by any of us)

When I broke my nose of course he was there front and center to harass me 
But that's for another day.  Did I write that story here? I may have to look that one up because I'm old now and forgetful.