Featured Post

Welcome to Our World . . .

Pages

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Pilot at the Doctor's



I was at the doctor’s office today, and a man in a pilot’s uniform was sitting next to me. He was an elderly gentleman, hearty and strong looking, with a tanned, handsome face. I struck up a conversation with him, and despite his shy and quiet demeanor, there was a kindly something to his face that betokened a life practiced in patience and kindheartedness.
            He turned out to be a co-pilot, and I asked him if he liked his job. He almost smiled, but didn’t as he reflected. “I like flying.” He answered cautiously, “I’ve always liked flying. But it’s different now than it used to be.” He seemed like he would retreat back into his phone, but I was intrigued, and wouldn’t let him.
I pursued my questioning, “How is it different?”
“Just, the attitude towards it, I suppose.”
“More impersonal, maybe?”
“Yes, maybe. All about the bottom line now. And, it used to be special for people when they flew. They got dressed up for it. Now it’s – flipflops.” He said that word like it was a terror rearing its head from the depths of the Inferno. My sympathetic heart quickened and went out to him. He finished by saying, “I still love flying, but the people are different. They treat the pilots differently: more carelessly; so that’s not as enjoyable anymore.”

Nowadays, the attitude toward flying, toward taxiing, toward grocery store clerks, is one of commodity. We have done away with social structures and the result is that everyone is simultaneously elite and a slave. When we are behind the counter, being served, we treat the server like a commodity – a machine. And when we are on the other side, we are treated the same.
Here is a man who soars to the clouds, revels in the wonder and un-owned freedom of the sky, and is a slave in his own cockpit. A slave to attitude, dress, customs – a slave to the lack of civility that mankind deigns to bestow upon him. And he loves people: I could tell. He wants to share the joy of climbing to the blue-white heights with sympathetic, beating hearts! and instead, he is treated with cold indifference and confronted with pajamas, and yoga pants, and ‘flip-flops’. Exupery would deeply pity him.
How can we guard against this? How can we learn to treat each member of humanity with grace, dignity, and respect? This man does not pass many words with his passengers – not now, and probably not even much in the past. But he has still noticed a difference of attitude: he specified it as “dress”. People used to get dressed up to fly. Think about that! To don one’s fine, smart clothes and meet the world with dignity and poise. It’s not asking much, really. Just a tasteful, classy outfit, and other people around you see that you are serious about life, fun, and business – instead of constantly ready to fall asleep all the time. Yet your clothes do not simply reflect you, but the activity you are engaged in. When we garden, we wear appropriate attire; when we go on a first date, we dress accordingly. When we fly wearing only sweatpants and an overlarge sweater, we are indicating that flying is just a sloppy business, and the pilots and flight attendants are insignificant commodities shuttling us to our destinations. Not even decent English lords treated their chauffeurs thusly!

So please, next time you get dressed in the morning, think about what you are saying: about yourself, your activities for the day, and the people with whom you will be. 
It matters.

No comments:

Post a Comment