in an airplane, I had a very strong sense that this flying thing was NOT something ordinary and was not to be taken lightly or for granted. The whole experience was nothing short of a miracle. To this day, although I fully understand the physics and science behind it all, I am still filled with that little boy’s sense of wonder every time I fly.
As we continued along, I stared out at the darkness and at the flashing strobe lights on the airplane’s wing tip, catching glimpses of clouds and an occasional light below. In all the excitement, I hadn’t noticed that the drinks the flight attendants had served us were taxing my small bladder. I asked Mom where the bathroom was, and she pointed to the rear of the cabin.
When I stepped into the lavatory, I was surprised to see myself in a big mirror. There was also a little sink, toilet, and toilet tissues all neatly arranged. Wow, how cool! I thought. After finishing, I pushed down the flush lever and to my astonished eyes; blue water swirled around the bowl and down a silver drain! Having never seen blue toilet bowl water before, I was amazed. Where did it all go? I wondered. I washed my hands (in what disappointingly turned out to be normal, clear water) and rushed back to my seat to regale my parents with tales of my bathroom adventure and my discovery of the blue water.
As I sat back into my seat staring out the window, my mind was spinning with how astonishingly amazing this whole thing was. My thoughts went back to the captain who had disappeared into that little room up front and to the fact that HE was the one controlling this incredible machine in which I was flying. Right at that moment, as if the captain knew I was thinking about him, I heard his voice come over the cabin speaker. I listened intently, not understanding a word of what he was saying, after which I heard a few more of those mysterious dings and bells. Mom explained that the captain had thanked us for flying American Airlines and had told us about the weather in New York, where we would soon be landing.
After the captain’s announcement, I felt a slight lurch and then the airplane’s nose gently started to point downward as we started our descent. The flight attendants were making their pre-landing announcements, and occasionally I felt a few bumps of turbulence, which I thoroughly enjoyed. As we continued descending into the overcast sky, I heard different kinds of mechanical sounds, which I later learned were the wing flaps and landing gear coming down. When we broke out below the clouds, I got my first glimpse of New York and was bewildered by the sheer number of lights on the ground. They stretched as far as my eyes could see. As we neared the ground, I got a sense of our tremendous speed as the runway lights blurred by us. I felt a thump as we touched down and then the roar of the engines as they went into reverse thrust. My little body was pushed forward into my seatbelt as the giant silver bird decelerated, and when the roaring of the engines finally stopped, we turned off the runway and started taxiing to our gate. All the passengers in the cabin erupted in applause, grateful for a safe journey, and I joined in the clapping. There was a sea of lights outside, colorfully arrayed in different patterns and rows, stretching all around the airport. I heard the voice of the lead flight attendant as she made some announcement, which I figured must have meant, “Welcome to New York City”. As we taxied slowly towards the jet bridge, I could see the bright white lights of the terminal building as they poured into the cabin, almost blinding me. I stared out the window transfixed, thinking about all the astonishing things I had experienced in the previous three few hours. As we parked and I heard the last bell, telling it was safe to remove our seatbelts, I KNEW with absolute certainty what I wanted to be when I grew up... I wanted to be an airline pilot!
As we walked slowly up the aisle to exit the plane, I caught a glimpse of the cockpit for the first time and couldn’t believe how much stuff was in there! To my astonishment, there had also been two other people sitting up there all along (I later learned they were the copilot and flight engineer. The 727 had a three-person cockpit crew, as opposed to the now more common two-person crew). The captain had gotten up from his seat to say goodbye to all of us, alongside the lead flight attendant. He was wearing his full uniform, complete with hat, and a jacket adorned with four silver stripes on each sleeve near the wrists. I felt such admiration for this man who had been at the controls of this incredible machine and wanted to be just like him. I had never seen a cooler man in all my life. As I walked by him, I smiled broadly, and the captain flashed a bright smiled back at me. I had found my life’s calling.
Chapter 2
A whole new world
My parents lived uptown in Harlem, in an apartment right across the street from a big building that had a sloping corrugated aluminum facade. The strange looking building both fascinated and scared me because I had no idea what to make of its weird structure. Years later, I came to find out that it had actually been a church. That strange building was far from the only new thing I had to adjust to as I settled into my new life with a new family, a new country, and a strange new language... English. My parents were able to enroll me in the first grade, with Betty attending Kindergarten in the same school. I sat in the back of the classroom trying to make sense of this new language, having no idea what the teacher or students were saying. Both of my parents worked, (Mom was a cashier at Burger King and Dad was a taxi driver) and on more than one occasion, Mom had to be called in from work to pick me up from school in the middle of the day. Since I couldn’t understand what was going on in class, I would often pass the time by singing to myself in Kreol, which apparently caused a bit of a disruption in the class. The other students welcomed the disruption and found it quite a bit amusing. They laughed whenever I started to sing, and I liked the attention. My teacher, for some strange reason, didn’t seem to find the humor in the situation... neither did my mom. Mom understood how difficult it was for me, having left everything and everyone I had ever known. She explained that I needed always to behave in class and that I just had to be patient as I adjusted to my new environment. She also assured me that I would learn the language quickly. She was right. Thanks in no small part to watching many Sesame Street episodes, I soon became conversant in English (to the chagrin of my classmates who had gotten a kick out of my singing).
Summer arrived, and with my abbreviated school year mercifully over, I was finally able to devote more of my time to one of my favorite activities: watching television. The magic box fascinated me, and I marveled at how all those people fit inside it. Most of the early arguments Betty and I had, centered on who would have control of the channel knob (this was well before remote control televisions became the norm). We were both slowly adjusting to not being the only child in our household. Betty was only seventeen months younger than I was, so the level of sibling rivalry was initially high. I always tried to wake up before her to park myself in front of the television, so I could watch my favorite shows such as the aforementioned Sesame Street, along with Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and The Electric Company. Looking back, the countless hours I spent watching Channel Thirteen, (New York’s public television channel) was time well spent. I was unwittingly learning proper English as I was being entertained. My seven year-old brain soaked it all in like a sponge. Now, when I’m asked how I learned English and why I don’t have a New York City accent, having grown up there, I always say it’s because I literally learned English from Big Bird.
Television became a teacher to me... Not only of language but culture, relationships (from the soap operas mom loved to watch), social issues involving race, and American sports. Television was my one-stop learning shop; you name it and television had it.
In those early days, and in the years that followed, I always perked up when there was anything on television involving airlines or flying. I had no idea that deregulation of the airline industry had just taken place a couple of years earlier, allowing the airlines to compete in a free market for passengers for the first time. I soon learned (mainly from television commercials) that, in the New York City area, Pan American World Airways (I loved that name), TWA, and Eastern Airlines were among the largest airlines. I would stare at the television, as Pan Am commercials showed the magnificent Boeing 747 taking off from JFK airport bound for some faraway place, as the Pan Am slogan “You can’t beat the experience, Pan Am” would play. The slogan of American Airlines, “We’re American Airlines, doing
