Fly By Night

Tell me, when was the last time you stayed up all night long ? I’m not talking about your all-night partying type of all night long. I’m talking about sitting through the wee hours of the morning, standing watch over a sick child or other loved one. I’m talking about staying up all night and paying attention. Not for the fun of it but because you have to do it.

It isn’t much fun is it ? Anyone that has done it and is over 40 knows that it actually hurts.

Let’s say it’s 9 o’clock at night. You’ve had a long day, you’re just settling in to watch the TV and the phone rings. It’s your boss and he wants you to show up in two hours to cover the midnight shift. What do you say ? Do you think the extra money would offset the pain of staying up all night long, ruining your night and probably whatever plans you had for the next day and night ?

As most of you have already guessed, we’re not talking about just anybody. We’re talking about air traffic controllers. So, there are a couple of other factors you have to throw in. First, if you had a glass of wine with dinner, you’re disqualified. You can’t come in and you’d be fired if you did. Now you’re not talking about messing up your life but possibly ending the lives of others. If you got up even as late as 7 AM that means you’ll be controlling traffic during the next morning’s rush hour without having slept in 24 hours. Is that safe ? It’s not even smart.

And then it occurs to you, the guy on the phone is the one that won’t let you take a nap on your break. As a matter of fact, he’ll try to get you fired if you do fall asleep at 4 AM. He’s the guy that won’t raise your pay. He’s the guy that says “good riddance” when the senior controllers retire early. He’s the guy that has scheduled you for overtime 6 weeks in a row. He’s the guy that keeps lying to the public, telling them that they don’t need to hire any controllers, which is the reason he’s bothering you at home on your time off, trying to ruin even more of your time off.

What would you say to the guy on the other end of the phone ?

If you were Australian, you’d tell him, “No”.

Good for them.

Don Brown
August 11, 2008