Wings, hats, jackets....ALPA pins? All part of the uniform. I just flew with a guy, LCO, from IAH, no ALPA pin. He's retired military. 3rd trip out of SFO 777.

Met in ops. Asked what kind of pin he had on his tie, retired Army. Hmm, where were you hired?.....Says, "Doesn't matter any more." So he thinks I'm going to give him grief over CO, nope, no ALPA pin!

Turns out it was a simple misunderstanding. He did not understand the importance of wearing the ALPA pin, his pin broke the pin off the back and didn't know how to get a new one. So, no problem, we talked, I told him how, trip was great. He'll have a pin for his next trip, BTW, a 20 year pin. Just didn't know. Now he does.

Educate your piers. Contract talks are just around the corner. Sorry for high jacking the thread, but it was on my mind.