Day LXXIV

First Class, uh

     “Oh crap what now!” Methunk, “Am I in trouble again?”

    She saw the freaked out expression on my face, my look of dismay, my mouth agape, and my eyes wide, as I thought something had gone wrong.

     “Damn maybe my flight ticket...” and before I could finish the thunk, she says,

     “Oh we just thought you would enjoy your flight a little more if you sat up front.”

     She smiled, and led a few of us up to first class. There were some empty seats up there, and they decided to let a few of us service men have them. I was one of the lucky ones. That was so cool, and I was able to enjoy a few rum and cokes with my smokes. It was the most pleasant flight I've ever had.

     But that was as far as my luck went. Travis AB is like sixty miles from San Francisco. The flight was late, the freaking bus to the base didn’t wait, and the military doesn’t tolerate tardiness. Four of us shared a cab, and I remember it cost us about sixty bucks. I wonder how much that would be today. Anyway, three of us paid for it, because the other guy didn’t have any money. He only had enough for the bus, but we let him ride with us.

     When we got there, I was cited for being late. The officer in charge, a captain, didn’t want to hear any tales of woe. He gave me a lecture, much of which I didn’t hear, and finished it by saying:

     “You cut it to the bone, you should have been smart, and been here a day early like everybody else.”

     Then he cut me some slack, let it go, and added

     “You need to register for the flight, so get moving on the double!”