I've been traveling again - basically all this year. And so I am missing community. More particularly, I am missing excellent company. I've been thinking about doing things to make myself a better friend, and as far as that is concerned I've been thinking about the kind of men I seem to instantly bond with. The first kind of man I think of are retired first responders. Old cops, old soldiers, like the one guy who's a scoutmaster in Boy's troop. I also get along great with most guys who drive BMWs, and just about every guy in IT with gray hair.
Tonight I read this story:
Shortly before landing, Bob Hayden and a flight attendant had agreed on a signal: When she waved the plastic handcuffs, he would discreetly leave his seat and restrain an unruly passenger who had frightened some of the 150 people on board a Minneapolis-to-Boston flight Saturday night with erratic behavior.
Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine.
"I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, 'Retired captain. USMC.' I said, 'You'll do,' " Hayden recalled. "So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation."
Damn.
Days like this make me mad that I'm so white collar. But I'm still gray.
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