“Meet Your Pilot”: Ari Elpiloto’s Résumé (Aunt.Sexy Studies Her Pilot’s Résumé, Reads a Little Shakespeare, and Jots Down Some Notes)

 

NASA, Photo acquired May 18, 2013
International Space Station
__________________

O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame?

Since lion vile hath here deflower’d my dear:

Which is – no, no – which was the fairest dame

That lived, that loved, that liked, that look’d with cheer.

Come, tears, confound;

Out, sword, and wound

The pap of Pyramus;

Ay, that left pap,

Where heart doth hop:

Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.

Now am I dead,

Now am I fled;

My soul is in the sky:

Tongue, lose thy light;

Moon take thy flight:

Now die, die, die, die, die.

— Pyramus, Act V, Scene 1, A Mid Summer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare

_____________________

The pilot’s submitted résumé reveals nothing remarkable: his education (degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University) and experience (10,000 miles, 1,650 on Boeing 777) seem impeccable.

However, his work record contains an eighteen-month gap, which needs to be explained during the upcoming “Meet and Greet.”

It may be nothing, but something bothers me; it would be unusual for someone to stop working in the middle of a career without a reason, and I need to find out why before I board my flight.

It could have been something very benign, but...

Note about pilot’s name: Did Mr. Elpiloto become a pilot because of his name? Family pressure? Self-fulfilling prophecy? Coincidence?

Not sure about flying with a pilot who isn’t enthusiastic about his job.

Thank goodness for this new TSA Initiative. Having some modicum of control sure takes some of the fears out of flying.