My On The Way Out series, Vol. 1, Part 3

A little about getting old...a sprinkle of The Best of Times...and a little history about the airline industry, back in the good old days.

What does putting the old guy out to pasture really mean?

Well, one meaning is to discontinue that particular item. Or, maybe they are just being nice to the old guy and letting him know there are greener pastures down the road. On second thought, that's a whole different meaning.

Any any rate, when you're old and gray, first off...no one listens to you anyway and secondly, if someone does happen to ask for advice, then chances are they'll probably shake their heads and wonder what's this old codger talking about?

What does he mean, the olden days?

To be honest, they are probably right, trouble shooting a problem inside a 2021 auto engine these days is a lot different than checking under the hood back in the 1950s. Heck, back in my day, in the airline business, we used a teletype machine to communicate with others. I know, the grandchildren may be just inquisitive enough to ask. "Grandpa, what is a teletype?"

Simpler times.

Or maybe I should refer to those days when I was a younger man as The Best of Times.

My airline career occured long before I decided to dabble in writing for a living. Talk about The Best of Times, the airline industry in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was simply a wonderful experience -- especially the regional carriers, a part of the industry where employees worked toward a common goal to make their airline better, stay on time and believe it or not, excel in customer service.

Our particular airline had steak and eggs breakfast flights and for dinner wine came with the meal. I'm not sure we ever offered peanuts back in those days. If a flight was canceled, agents would hustle you off to another flight, even though the airline was a competitor. My goodness, if the customer was stuck overnight the hard-working counter agent would find you a hotel and give you a voucher. In some cases, if there was an oversell, the same agent might write you a check and still get you on the next available flight.

Then deregulation raised its ugly head. It hurt the employees more than anyone. Jobs were lost. Families were uprooted...agents were forced to relocate to keep going...stay afloat, and do their part to keep their particular airline from folding.

Unfortunately, in the long run, many of the smaller airlines went under leaving "the big boys" to fight it out for survival.

Yes, we are currently in bad times. Everywhere you look businesses are closing down, people are suffering and the virus keeps on doing damage to the young and old. My goodness, if I was working in the airline industry these days I'd need to take an oxygen tank to work.

Times change. Bad things happen. The human race has always been under the gun...whether it's the 1920s, 1950s or 2021. We will survive...we always do.