Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 716423)

The Sack Lunches



I put my carry-on in the luggage
compartment and sat down in my
assigned seat. It was going to be a
long flight. 'I'm glad I have a
good book to read. Perhaps I will get
a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of
soldiers came down the aisle and
filled all the vacant seats, totally
surrounding me. I decided to
start a conversation.
'Where are you headed?'

I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then
we're being deployed to Afghanistan .

After flying for about an hour, an
announcement was made that sack
lunches were available for five
dollars. It would be several hours
before we reached the east, and I
quickly decided a lunch would help
pass the time...

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a

soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch.

'No, that seems like a lot of money for

just a sack lunch.

Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks.

I'll wait till we get to base.'

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers.

None were buying lunch. I
walked to the back of the plane and
handed the flight attendant a
fifty dollar bill.
'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.'

She grabbed my arms and squeezed
tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me.

'My son was a soldier in Iraq ;

it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up
the aisle to where the soldiers
were seated. She stopped at my seat
and asked, 'Which do you like
best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why
she asked. She turned and went to
the front of plane, returning a
minute later with a dinner plate from
first class. 'This is your thanks...'

After we finished eating, I went
again to the back of the plane,
heading for the rest room.
A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did.

I want to be part of it. Here, take this.'

He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I
saw the Flight Captain coming down
the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers

as he walked, I hoped he was not

looking for me, but noticed he was

looking at the numbers only on
my side of the plane. When he got to

my row he stopped, smiled,

held out his hand, and said,

I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I
stood and took the Captain's hand.
With a booming voice he said, 'I was
a soldier and I was a military pilot.
Once, someone bought me a lunch.
It was an act of kindness I never forgot.'

I was embarrassed when applause

was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the
plane so I could stretch my legs.
A man who was seated about six rows
in front of me reached out his
hand, wanting to shake mine.. He left
another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my
belongings and started to deplane.
Waiting just inside the airplane door
was a man who stopped me, put
something in my shirt pocket, turned,
and walked away without saying a
word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the
soldiers gathering for their trip to the base.

I walked over to them and handed them

seventy-five dollars

'It will take you some time to reach the base.

It will be about time for a sandwich.
God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight
feeling the love and respect of their
fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car,

I whispered a prayer for their safe return.
These soldiers were giving their all for our country.

I could only give them a couple of meals..
It seemed so little...



A veteran is someone who, at one
point in his life, wrote a blank check
made payable to 'The United States of

America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many

people in this country who no longer

understand it.'

Originally Posted by Pineapple Guy (Post 716401)

George, that can't ever happen, sadly. As much as many think ALPA is a powerless, paper tiger, ALPA publicly strongly opposing or supporting any particular issue CAN sway the markets. If the union were to provide inside info to you before it goes public, they go to jail. I know that's extremely frustrating, and I'm not saying they shouldn't aggressively communicate AFTER it goes public, with a rationale as to WHY its important to take the position they take, but it will never happen before hand.

Originally Posted by georgetg (Post 716366)

Since it's the same either way just communicate...
The silence is deafening

At least a few bullet points on here's how we see the JAL situation and what it means to Delta pilots....

...so I don't have to read about it in the paper before I hear it from my own people...

Cheers
George

Originally Posted by DAL4EVER (Post 716458)

George,

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, but perhaps the situation is so fluid right now that its impossible for the union to put much if any non-NDA information out. DAL is negotiating for JAL with SkyTeam against OneWorld and the Japanese government. If anyone knows the asian culture, they are a pain to try and negotiate with: vis-a-vis the years it took to secure several 90s for the company. Now, if the 90s were a pain in the butt, think how challenging negotiating for the Japanese flagship carrier and Japanese identity in the airline industry is going to be? Add to that we are negotiating against the clock.

Americans don't have our airline identity wrapped up in any one airline. But if you go abroad to places like France, Germany, Singapore, etc., there is one main flagship carrier. If the US had one flagship carrier and a foreign company was going to be the key to bailing it out for increased access to said markets, don't you think the public, the employees and perhaps the government would be pressuring to save the company as it is or secure the most advantageous agreement possible?

My point, is that the terms could be changing daily as OneWorld and SkyTeam throw back competing offers. Therefore, for the couple union guys that are in the know on this, they simply could be telling Lee et al. that "we simply don't know where we stand right now" and be telling the truth. If the union puts out information prematurely that later is invalid, the rank and file will scream they've been "lied to". If they don't put out information or say "we don't know", the rank and file screams "they aren't talking to us". Its truly a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.

The facts may ultimately come to light only after the conclusion is revealed and then the strengths and weaknesses associated with the offer will be known. But the union cannot release the company's positions based on appeasing the pilot group.

Originally Posted by Check Essential (Post 716431)

How are we supposed to whine about our contract after that post?

Well done, acl.

http://www.gifs.net/Animation11/Scie...t/Clapping.gif

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 716461)

Agreed, but it is simple to put out why a deal would be good for the group w/o revealing anything. Simple bullet facts, nothing more. I do not see people asking for much. We are a smart lot.

Originally Posted by DAL4EVER (Post 716472)

I have no qualms with that, I guess my point is that the terms of the potential offers could be changing enough where the bullet points on why an agreement is good today, may not be the case tomorrow. Not defending no information, just why there it may be difficult for the information to actually be presented in any true form.