These things always happen to me.
We flew home yesterday on Jet Blue and were in aisle five, so we had to wait till pretty much every else got on. We had the window and the middle seat and of course there was someone sitting in the window seat and a guy on the aisle. I had to get the woman at the window to move because the wife always has the window. I took out all the stuff she needed to fly from our carry on: blankie, headphones, book, glasses, special neck rest pillow. Then I stowed my gear and helped this old lady put her stuff up before I squeezed by the dude in the aisle seat. He was an older very thin wirey guy who really reminded me of my uncle. When I sat down I thanked him for being patient and introduced myself. He said his name was Manny and he was originally from Greenpoint Brooklyn. Then he goes "This is my last flight."
I ask him what he meant. He told me he had pancreatic cancer which has been in remission for about three years and he had been living in Florida. But it was looking bad and he wanted to come home to his family so they didn't have to fuss with the arrangements and sending his body back to Brooklyn. Quite a conversation while the snarky steward guy was giving us our water and cashews and blue potato chips. I told him I was real sorry and that I would remember him in my prayers and would make a special intention to Saint Jude. He thanked me but he had an unbelievable attitude. He had a carry on under his seat that was just full of pills. He took pills about every twenty minutes or so. Sometimes he would tell me what it was. "Check this out...it's medical marijuana...in a pellet form....man I would never have got in such trouble in high school if they had these pellets back then... it's for my appetite man." Here was a guy who was looking at the last mile and he had a smile and a joke and was polite and kind to the people he interacted with. I hope I have the balls to do the same thing when it's my time. It makes you realize that the problems you have are really not that big a deal in the whole scheme of things.
It was some flight.
18 comments:
God bless him, and God bless you Trooper, you are a kind soul.
I am travelling to DC tomorrow to go raise some hell in a march on Washington!
I will tell you how it all turns out.
Trey
That's a truly great story, Trooper. Best you've done.
And, believe me, I'll say a prayer for the guy, too.
Sounds like a good bloke.
As said in the old Pogo comic strip: "Don't take life so serious, son--it ain't no how permanent.".
Great story!
I only hope to have such an outlook when my time comes.
It makes you wonder; is it better to die suddenly or to have an illness that takes a while. If you have time, then you have got an incentive to tie-up loose ends and say your good-byes--but then that is followed by a slow (and most likely painful)end.
Probably prudent to keep loose-ends always tied: Make sure the wife and kids always know you love them, the wife knows the Swiss bank account #, etc.
Manny was a joy to talk to and he gave me a great prespective that so many of the people who yell and scream don't have. He was a working man....had been a janitor for the Board of Education...and he worked and did the right thing all his life. He was a Puerto Rican and we joked about what it was like to be a Puerto Rican in the sixties and the seventies in New York City. He was about ten years older than me, not old at all.
Like you said it makes you think.
Stories like that are all around you if you take the time to talk to people. This kind of thing happens to me all the time.
Most people know when you are full of crap...it shows man... If you treat people with dignity and respect...everyone from the CEO to the takeout delivery guy...your life will really be enriched....they will do a lot more for you than you are doing for them.
Just sayn'
Hey Trey, you are going away and leaving the Catwoman all alone?
Puerto Ricans are as American as you and me. They are great people. Even if they do like colorados better than negros.
I envy the ability to engage in conversation as easily as you describe, Troop. Oddly, I can manage it at work, not so in private life.
To introverts, conversation can feel like bleeding.
There is a secret to it Pogo. You should never fear to look like an asshole. You do it on the internet all the time. You just say what you think and tell a joke and be the real you. Let your freak flag fly man.
It's easy to do that in real life if you don't care what other people have to say.
Too true, man.
I've got the internet asshole thing down cold, so mebbe there's hope.
I feel so left out. Can I be an asshole too?
What's a colorado, dr kill?
It can be a cigar, a type of beer or referance the skin tone of the mixed races you find on the island.
You pays you money and youse make your cherce.
Ricpic, PRs eat only red beans, Cubans only eat black beans.
The PRs I eat my pigs feet and red beans with assure me that colorado means red in spanish.
You can tell who they are by the beans they eat.
Pogo, you are a gentleman and a scholar and there are very few of us left.
Chin up compadre!
Trey
I'm changing my name to "Internet Asshole." Has a certain ring to it. If "Internet Asshole" is already taken, maybe I'll change my name to "Internet Sweat Gland." Maybe just "Sphincter."
Seriously, though, that guy has a great attitude. We're all on borrowed time, so I suppose it's best to live life without leaving loose ends lying around, eh?
Touching story, Trooper. I'm sure Manny enjoyed the flight as much as he could, thanks to you.
Bless you.
He blessed me with his courage and his heart.
He's not the kind of guy who gets on a cable show where everyone will be talking about him. Or when he passes, six months of non stop coverage like Michael Jackson or Ted Kennedy.
I know I will remember him.
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