Well I thought I was done writing for a bit, but a little surprise happened that I need to address.

I don’t do Facebook. I have a Facebook page but have no idea how to get on it. It is just not something I want to spend my time on. That doesn’t mean I think it is bad, I’m just not interested in it.

We were doing a demo at NCBA trade show and I was giving Tammy a bad time for being on Facebook instead of practicing her roping. What I didn’t know is Western Horseman was streaming live on Facebook, so I was cussing Facebook while on Facebook. Humorous.

I enjoy flying. I fly United airlines and have lots of miles accumulated every year so I have platinum status. This saves money because I get to check overweight bags so I can pack my saddle and other bags for no charge. I get good seat choices and I would
not fly if I had to set in a little seat. I just don’t fit. Some flights I get a upgrade to first class. It’s nice and I like it, but I sure wouldn’t pay for it. As long as I have plenty of room for my knees I can get by on any flight. First class is a little embarrassing sometimes when people look at you like some kind of snob as they walk by to the cheap seats.

Once in a while I see someone that would really benefit from a seat in first class. Giving up a seat that you didn’t pay for to help someone that would get more benefit than you is a no brainer. It’s the right thing to do. On every flight I’m sure someone would benefit more than me so I am a little embarrassed I haven’t done it more.

There is a whole bunch of hoopla on Facebook being made about something that happened on a flight from Denver to San Antonio. Before boarding I saw a big man with a cane that was a little bothered. He had a t-shirt on that had a 25 year reunion of desert storm on it. I was amazed that it was that long ago. I enjoy watching the boarding process and how people act and react to the pressure of flying. It is interesting to compare loading people on an airplane to loading livestock. It is much the same. The skills of the people handlers and loading facilities make a lot of difference in the flow of loading of the plane and how content the sheep, I mean people are on the liner, I mean plane.

If they load the folks that need a little extra time far enough in advance and let them get settled and seated, the rest of the loading goes real smooth. I don’t think the handlers always understand this and they start the next group to soon and this causes problems that I can see, because I’m right in the middle of it, but the person doing the loading is where they can’t see it so they just keep sending people up the chute and it creates problems that they don’t even know is happening. Might be a lesson here for loading livestock.

When I got to the first class section I could see this fellow was having trouble. He had a seat right where everyone was trying to get by. I talked him into taking my seat and I would take his. He was worried about leg room, as he had a bad leg. People were putting to much pressure on him trying to get by and I could take the pressure off by giving him my seat. I didn’t do it because he was a veteran, but because he was a human being that I could help, as well as all the other human beings on the flight.

I sat in the seat he was trying to sit in and a man told me I was in his seat. I said it wasn’t my seat but I had traded my seat to the veteran fellow. He said he was a veteran so why didn’t I give him my first class seat. I moved over and let him have his seat. It turned out better than I thought, because the man I traded would have been real uncomfortable in the seat I had and I was just fine.

I got the most benefit out of the deal. I got the satisfaction of helping someone that needed some help. The fellow sitting beside me got his seat and didn’t have to ask the other fellow to move. The nice things the man said about me on Facebook (Tammy had to show me)was an extra bonus for me and him, and it opened up the opportunity for this discussion. Another great memory in my life. It all goes back to what Tom Dorrance said. Negatives never make positives. Positives make positives.

It all about pressure. How we take it and how we apply it.

I appreciate all the kind words everyone is saying, but it really was not that big of a deal. After we got off the plane we visited a little, he was a very nice man, and he is the real hero for what he did after the deal by showing his appreciation. On the flight back, the other veteran was on again and I shook his hand and asked him how his visit was. He was real nice, and he didn’t even know what had taken place. I was upgraded again, and sat in first class. I bet there was someone on the plane that could have used my seat but I didn’t give it up, so I’m not that special.

So again thank you for all the kind words. What ever the situation we can always do better for the living things that surround us. That should be the norm, not the exception.

That brings us back to Facebook. I think it’s a great thing if it creates positives in life. Just don’t let it create negatives, or cause you to not get and give the positives in your real world.