November 01 '03

Volume 387


Airport Encounters Guys And Dolls

The seat I chose Hurry Up And Waitin the Atlanta airport terminal faced the aisle of the concourse. I reasoned if I grew tired of using the computer or reading, during my three-hour layover before flying into Memphis, I could always entertain myself watching the "foot traffic." Three-hour layovers became the norm for my Friday flights back home in the four weeks of work that carried me to Wisconsin and Illinois, recently.

I don’t remember if I was using my laptop computer or reading, as I noticed a pair of tanned men’s legs walk by me. Being a heterosexual male, I’m not given to looking at men’s legs, but this particular pair of legs had walked within an arm’s reach of me and thus violated my space. Having been distracted, I watched as the man approached and then spoke to a couple of guys near me. Though a support beam blocked my view of them, I could hear the conversation. There was something about the forty-something looking male in the short pants that reminded me of a market manager I once supervised in Columbus, MS.

Prior to my becoming a supervisor for SUPERVALU in the early eighties, I had been a market manager for nine years and prior to that I had taught school. As a teacher, I quickly learned how to maintain discipline in the classroom and exercise control over the students. As a market manager in a corporate environment, I became an expert in managing or controlling those who worked for me.

Neither my experience as a teacher nor that of a market manager prepared me for supervision in the world of independent retailers. Whatever control techniques I had previously mastered were of little use among the market managers whom I supervised. Independent retailers and their employees cannot be controlled, and any success I may have had as a supervisor is due to my learning how to "cajole" instead of "control."

A number of the market managers with whom I worked were roughly my age or older. Many of these felt they knew as much about the meat business as I did and with few exceptions didn’t care to learn anything more about the business or change their work habits. It required a big adjustment on my part to learn how to teach "old dogs" new tricks.

Of the three market managers that I supervised in the three SUPERVALU supplied stores in Columbus, MS, one was a young man in his mid-twenties. Benny Peebles was not only a hard worker he was also teachable. Benny readily realized the value of a supervisor in his work. An objective pair of eyes can often spot trouble overlooked by being too close to the problem or due to complacency. Benny was almost always eager to try my suggestions. In those years, I grew to appreciate Benny’s cheerfulness and willingness to embrace change.

At the airport, the guy in the short pants could have passed for Benny Peebles or else a close relative. The way he stood, his mannerisms, and gestures, all had me pretty much convinced that he was Benny. The troubling part was that he didn’t seem to recognize me.

"What’s it been, thirteen or fourteen years?" I asked myself. "If that’s Benny, he’ll remember me. I can’t have changed that much."

On the other hand, Benny, or the guy who looked like him, was loosing hair and had gained a few pounds, most noticeably around the midsection. The Benny I remembered was something of an exercise freak who played basketball at the "Y" and worked at staying in shape.

Benny Peebles got married around 1989 and shortly thereafter he and his wife moved to Atlanta, GA. They became active in one of the churches in their neighborhood. A year or so after forsaking the life of a bachelor, Benny and his wife divorced. That was the last I had heard of Benny through my contacts in Columbus. In fact, the last time I asked anyone in Columbus about Benny, I had been told none of his former co-workers had seen or heard from him in quite sometime.

I’m often tempted to make a fool of myself, and I sometimes give into the temptation and succeed. When it comes to recognizing someone from my past, I’ve played the fool far too often. Thus, I was apprehensive about asking the guy in the airport if he were Benny Peebles.

Once, as I looked up to make sure he was still in the gate area for my flight, I couldn’t find him. However, I soon spotted him facing my direction and standing roughly twenty yards away.

"If that’s Benny," I reasoned, "he’ll figure me out.

"Maybe, he needs my profile?" I thought, turning to oblige him.

Minutes passed and neither he nor I approached the other.

I had returned to my reading when a voice near my ear questioned, "Excuse me; are you Wayne?"

I looked up from the book to see his broad smile and responded, "I am, if you’re Benny."

I stood, and we greeted one another with laughter and handshakes long overdue. We shared how we were each convinced of the other’s identity, but were hesitant to make the first move. For the next fifteen minutes, we played "catch up," bringing each other up-to-date on our respective lives.

Benny now works in the shipping department of Kason Industries, a firm that manufactures, among other things, heavy-duty hinges and latches of the type used on meat cooler doors and freezers.

"We ship a lot to Master-Bilt in New Albany," Benny stated, referring to a manufacturer of commercial refrigeration equipment just up the road from Pontotoc.

When Benny and I stumbled upon each other, he was on his way to Memphis to spend the weekend gambling in nearby Tunica, MS. He was part of a chartered group paying $129.00 per person for the trip, including the motel. Assuming one doesn’t loose a lot of money at the Casino, it’s affordable entertainment. Though, it’s not the sort of entertainment I would choose for myself.

"My friends in Columbus won’t come to see me in Atlanta, but they’ll drive to Tunica and gamble with me," he shared.

Benny is single and plans to stay that way. He says his marriage experience has not embittered him, but he’s not interested in remarriage. As we boarded the plane to Memphis, I gave him a Ridge Rider News business card and encouraged him to visit the site and email me sometime.

I last saw Benny in the baggage claim area where he was waiting on other members of the gambling group. Sarah and Barbara were on hand to pick me up, and they also had the chance to speak to Benny. Figuring he’d need it, I wished him good luck at the casinos and bade him farewell, asking that he stay in touch.

-------------------------------------------

Roughly three weeks later, at the same airport, I encountered someone else with a Pontotoc connection. I was boarding a Delta flight to Memphis shortly before eight o’clock on a Friday evening. We were late boarding because the airline had overbooked the flight and had to bribe a handful of people with flexible schedules to accept a later flight. I had just set foot inside the aircraft and was waiting for the slow moving line of folks to make their way down the aisle, when I heard someone behind me speak the word, Pontotoc.

Standing immediately behind me were two young people that I didn’t know from Adam’s housecat, but since the nearer one was a pretty blonde, I asked, "Did someone say something about Pontotoc?"

"Yes, I did," she confessed. "My fiancé is from Pontotoc, and we’re going to the game tomorrow in Oxford."

Happy to meet someone with both a Pontotoc and Ole Miss connection, I quickly introduced myself and she reciprocated with, "I’m Ashley Craft," but I didn’t ask for the spelling, so she may be a Kraft.

"Do you know any Joneses?" she asked.

"Well, there are lots of folks named Jones in Pontotoc," I stated without over-committing myself.

"I’m engaged to Starner Jones," she beamed.

Whatever grin I had retained from our introduction suddenly got bigger.

"Sure, I know Starner. Why, his family and I go to the same church," I elaborated.

"Will you be in church this Sunday?" she asked.

"I sure will," I replied.

"Well, I’ll see you there," she stated.

As I squeezed into a middle seat on row 14 on the left side of the aircraft, I saw that Ashley was making her way to the middle seat of row 13 on the opposite side of the aisle. At the time of check-in, I failed to ask for an aisle seat. I don’t mind a window seat, but I’ll avoid a middle seat on an airplane if possible.

Someone once explained to me that, in an emergency, aisle seats were preferable to all others. However, if folks can’t deplane in an emergency (such as a burning aircraft) any faster than they can under normal circumstances, we’d probably not get out alive no matter where we were sitting.

About the time the flight attendants were asking passengers to choose a beverage, the gentleman on my right asked if I minded if he ate dinner. He had brought his meal aboard and was polite enough not to eat in front of a fellow passenger without gaining permission. I assured him I had no objections.

The gentleman also asked about my line of work and where I had been. When I asked what he did, he explained that he gave lectures on the relationship of gum disease and heart disease. He explained that he was not a medical professional but many of those attending his seminars were. I envied his work as I have often considered that I would be good at telling a group of doctors a thing or two, and somehow the thought of their paying to listen to me sounds appealing.

"Are you a church-going man?" he quizzed as he opened and prepared to eat a salad from one of three food containers he brought aboard.

I may go for weeks without meeting someone interested in my religion, but suddenly I found myself having been asked a church related question by two different people in the course of a half-hour.

"Yes, I am," I replied.

"Me, too," he commented.

I learned far more than I wanted to know about the stranger on my right, in the next half hour of the flight. Doug Billings is a Baptist, a born-again Christian, and lives in Batesville, AR.

Doug launched into a fairly well polished discourse of his beliefs and salvation experience. The Baptist church he attends has a different theological slant than mine, one that emphasizes "The Sovereignty of God," and, as such, uses the same phrase as part of the name of the church. While he made several points with which I didn’t fully agree, I saw no point in sharing my disagreement. After all, if he’s right in his thinking, God may have placed us together on the plane just so I’d have to listen to him.

Doug seemed to enjoy his salad, followed by a hefty portion of baked perch. I noticed he ate no bread but said nothing about it, for fear of learning still more that I really didn’t need to know. Though he offered to share some of his meal, I assured him I didn’t eat on "flight days." I don’t know what was in Doug’s third food container. Maybe it was dessert or bread. He merely told me he would eat it while driving home.

I lost sight of Doug as we exited the jet-way and entered the concourse in Memphis. However, I discovered Ashley was directly in front of me, so I quickened my pace and spoke to her.

Handing her one of my RRN business cards, I explained, "This is my hobby, but it has my name on it, which will help you remember me. Show this to Linda (Starner’s Mom). She’ll get a kick out of it."

"Oh, she’s here to pick me up," Ashley commented, "Starner’s supposed to be here, too."

As we walked to the baggage claim area, Ashley told me she had recently graduated from law school and was practicing Corporate Law in Atlanta. I asked her if a wedding date was set and Ashley told me they were thinking of getting married sometime next year.

Entering the baggage claim area, we both saw Linda and Starner about the same time. I think the two of them were as surprised to see me talking to Ashley as I was to see them in the Memphis airport.

The next person I saw was my sister, Sarah, whom Barbara had sent inside to find me as she looked for a parking space to open up in the No Parking Zone where passengers deplane. Sarah greeted Linda and Starner; she had taught Starner a few years back, and then she met Ashley and a friend of Linda’s, named Jane, from Kosciusko, MS. We talked and visited for a few moments then said goodbye, as we made our way outside to our respective vehicles.

As far as I know, Ashley and Starner attended the football game at Ole Miss on Saturday. I saw Linda’s family at church that Sunday and made a point of speaking to Ashley as I hurried to the pre-school department to pickup my granddaughter, Merilese Adams, between Bible Study hour and the morning worship service.

Airports serve a need for most folks to travel conveniently and quickly, and, for some of us, airports and air travel provide memorable experiences.


Bodock Beau What Is A Grandmother

I figure there are enough grandmothers among the readership of this newsletter to appreciate the following compilation of answers supplied by children to the question, "What Is A Grandmother?"

A grandmother is a lady who has no little children of her own. She likes other people's.

A grandfather is a man grandmother.

Grandmothers don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the store and have lots of quarters for us.

When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.

They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and also why we shouldn't step on "cracks."

They don't say, "Hurry up."

Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear.

They can take their teeth and gums out.

Grandmothers don't have to be smart.

They have to answer questions like "why isn't God married?" and "How come dogs chase cats?".

When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television, because they are the only grown ups who like to spend time with us.

They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they say prayers with us every time, and kiss us even when we've acted bad.

Contributed by Bing Crausby

You Live in the Deep South when…

1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2."ya'll" is singular and "all ya'll" is plural.
3. After five years you still hear, "You ain't from 'round here, are Ya?"
4. "He needed killin' " is a valid defense.
5. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, Mary Beth, etc.

Contributed by Bob Jackson

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