Jeremy,
I know you enjoy comedy and wish to share it with us, but after
50-odd years of flying, I cannot fail to note the trend in these "urban
myths". The "effing"-word joke was purported to have arisen in the night
circuit of training B-25 pilots in postwar RCAF station Winnipeg (say,
1948).
You will note that most of these acorns point out the error of
aviators and the crisp beartrap minds of TRAFFIC controllers (God controls
the air). Too busy with life to point out the foibles of others, aviators
see more and more of these 'humorous' events as tools to advance the roles
of people who are on the periphery of aviation and who have access to the
inner workings of others. For instance when I left the airlines, the book
showed 33 different methods of docking an airliner to what is variously
described as "Jetways, airdocks" and so forth. Every one of these ingenious
devices is described as "Standard". Hello?
Is it any wonder outsiders revel at the sound of a confused flyer?
One of my early bosses took the mike and said, "Why don't you
come up here and wrestle this monster onto the gray wiggly thing and I'll
come down there and yell into the grill for you?" You could hear buttons
clicking all the way to the horizon.
Cheers, Ferg
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