Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Depending on your job, take your kid to work day is not always a good idea

My dad was a butcher. I never handled the knives or the slicer. I was allowed to empty the trash and mop the floor. I also got to return the “this number next” plastic cards from the wall to the hanger thing on the top of the meat case (for you youngin’s that is the predecessor of the little piece of paper with a number on it that you pull out of a dispenser).

I haven’t read more than the headlines; but, apparently an on duty air traffic controller let his son talk to pilots over the tower radio. The controller and his boss are suspended. I imagine there was no real danger. Still.

3 comments:

Jeni said...

That deal -the kid in the air controller's area -has to be an absolute classic example of "What was I thinking when I wasn't thinking!" What on earth was that parent thinking to do something that nonsensical anyway? Boggles the mind at times, ya know.

The Curmudgeon said...

I heard a clip of the kid on the news -- sounded pretty good to me. The best part was the pilot of the plane (it was a Jet Blue flight) apparently wasn't fazed that a kid was on the radio -- he apparently didn't even blink at the voice giving instructions. He just acknowledged the message.

The Right Stuff, indeed.

Posol'stvo the Medved said...

Wait... What?! I must have missed something.

Did a plane crash? Was there even a near-miss? In other words, in spite of the fact that the kid wasn't "qualified", was any harm done?

When I was a kid, my dad used to sit me up on his lap and let me steer the car driving through town. I didn't have a license, and yeah, I coulda done something really bad and stupid... if my father had let me. But he didn't. Because, even though I couldn't tell it, he never let go of the steering wheel. There was never any real danger.

So. Why is the controller suspended?

I swear this country makes me crazy sometimes.