November 01 '03
Volume 387
Airport Encounters
Guys And Dolls
The seat I chose
in 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 dont remember if I was using my laptop computer or reading, as I
noticed a pair of tanned mens legs walk by me. Being a heterosexual
male, Im not given to looking at mens legs, but this particular
pair of legs had walked within an arms 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 didnt 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 Bennys 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 didnt seem to recognize me.
"Whats it been, thirteen or fourteen years?" I asked myself. "If
thats Benny, hell remember me. I cant 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.
Im 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, Ive 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 couldnt find him. However, I soon spotted him facing my direction
and standing roughly twenty yards away.
"If thats Benny," I reasoned, "hell 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
youre Benny."
I stood, and we greeted one another with laughter and handshakes long overdue.
We shared how we were each convinced of the others 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 doesnt loose a lot of money at the Casino, its affordable
entertainment. Though, its not the sort of entertainment I would choose
for myself.
"My friends in Columbus wont come to see me in Atlanta, but theyll
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 hes 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 hed 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 oclock 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 didnt know
from Adams 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 were
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, "Im Ashley Craft," but
I didnt 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.
"Im 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, Ill 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 dont mind a window seat, but Ill 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 cant deplane in an emergency (such
as a burning aircraft) any faster than they can under normal circumstances,
wed 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 didnt fully agree, I saw no point in sharing my
disagreement. After all, if hes right in his thinking, God may have
placed us together on the plane just so Id 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 didnt need to know. Though he offered to share
some of his meal, I assured him I didnt eat on "flight days." I dont
know what was in Dougs 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 (Starners Mom). Shell
get a kick out of it."
"Oh, shes here to pick me up," Ashley commented, "Starners 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 Lindas,
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 Lindas 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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