SEPTEMBER 10
As some of you may know, I'm a flight attendant. I'm on a 4 day trip now and will be back home in a couple of days, but now I'm enjoying the end of a long overnight. It's almost time to jump in the shower and get ready to head to the airport.
Tomorrow, I will be working two flights; one terminating at Washington Dulles and one originating there. If your flying tomorrow in or out of Dulles, I'll be the guy wearing an American flag tie with his uniform. Understand that I don't just wear it on 9/11, I wear it every day. I wear it proudly, and some of you regularly comment approvingly and that gives me enormous hope for our country.
I'll be interested to view the mood of passengers that are travelling by air on the fourth anniversary of that fateful day and I'll be watching to see what it will be. Personally, I'm not especially wary of working on 9/11 + 4, on the other hand, that was the day that transformed the unthinkable into the thinkable and rest assured, I will be thinking it.
I will be mindful of sullen, young middle-eastern men who board the aircraft, and I see many on a daily basis. Profiling? You betcha. No, there will be no discrimination practiced in any form or fashion, but their presence on my aircraft will be duly noted. I will treat them with the same cheerful attitude that is the case with all of my passengers, even though it is often not returned. Their movements, their demeanor and their mood during the flight will be subtly, but closely monitored.
If you're flying tomorrow, remember what day it is. Remember the passengers and flight crews of those four flights and say a silent prayer. The best memorial to them lies in your heart and soul. By all means, say a nice word to your flight attendant for at some level he or she is thinking the unthinkable while trying to pretend it is just another day. It is not.
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