We Are Not the Same

As I sit here having just completed my 65th trip around the sun, I get the opportunity to relax and reflect a lot. Because of age discrimination, once turning 65, me and hundreds of other guys around the country are forced to retire from the airlines and give up our flying careers to serve in the same capacity. Yes, many could go on to other flying gigs but most do not bother. Rehiring, retraining, requalifying, etc. “But Rob. At 65, you should be forced to retire. You are too old to fly airplanes. You have people’s lives in your hands.” And yet we have politicians who can barely walk around without help and babble incessantly because they are 75-90 years old. If pilots have to step down, they should be forced to retire as well. But that is for another day. As for the inane argument that I have a couple hundred people’s lives in my hand, some of these politicians have millions of people’s lives in their hands. Leave me alone.

As I sit here looking at the world around us, I cannot say I have come to a new conclusion, but rather, everything I see points to one inevitable conclusion: We Are Not the Same. People like to sound “woke” and embracing by saying we are all the same but that is a lie from the pit of hell. Yes, we may all share almost identical DNA, we may often share similar hopes and dreams and God loves each of us the same. But at the end of the day, in many cases, this is where the similarities end. Human; check. Brain; check. Body; check. We are the same; nope.

From 1993-1995, I spent two years flying with the Royal Saudi Air Force as an instructor pilot. From 1987-1993, for six wonderful years, I spent flying for NATO. So, in addition to all the Americans I have flown with in my day, 800+ in the airline world, I have flown with Canadians, Brits, Dutch, Danes, Belgians, Germans, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks, Italians, Saudi Arabians, and Portuguese. I am here to tell you that we are not all the same. I hate to break it to some of you but we are not. What might easily anger a Saudi, usually was laughed off by northern Europeans. As an American, we would say some pretty dicey things to each other in the cockpit. You would not dare say such a thing to someone from let’s say, Portugal. I don’t mean sexual things but things about their flying or lack of flying skills. We made a game of it. Chastise, harangue, but always in good fun. Things a Greek would do might leave German shaking their head.

I remember when I first stated flying with the Saudis, the first thing that struck me as how sensitive they are. To an American, German, Canadian, Brit, Norwegian, for example, you could say the same thing, laugh at each other and move on. A Saudi on the other had would immediately shut down. I would just have to get him out of the seat and get another guy in. I would actually feel terrible because I never wanted to hurt another guy’s feelings in the jet. So, I came up with an idea. You know how in Saudi Arabia, if you commit a certain crime, they lob off your hand, well I bought this rubber hand with the bones sticking out and blood all over it. I actually still have it. Whenever my student would mess up, I would just take out the hand and place it on the throttle quadrant and let it sit there. I would not say anything. He would eventually look down and see the hand. “Oh, no. Captain Tate, what did I do?” Now all the guys in the cockpit are laughing. I would take the jet and tell him, the flight engineer and navigator to figure it out. Plus, I got to fly the jet some more while they talked. Everybody won. Aa stupid as this may seem, this was actually pivotal in my really understanding that all of us on this big blue marble are not the same.

I remember when the Gulf War kicked off. We had members from one country who refused to participate in our air operations. I would ask them why not and they would say their union wouldn’t let them. The conversation would go something like this.

Me: So, are you going to deploy with us or not?

Gert: No.

Me: Why?

Gert: Our union forbids it.

Me: Yet you are flying here with us in NATO?

Gert: Yes.

Me: Getting paid?

Gert: Yes.

Me: But you won’t deploy?

Gert: Nope.

Me: You don’t feel bad about us going and you staying home watching television?

Gert: Nope.

Eventually things got straightened out, but no, we are not the same. I remember sitting around the squadron with a group of my Saudi pilots and I asked them the forbidden question. This was a subject we were instructed never to broach but after being there as long as I was, I didn’t care and besides, I got along well with all the Saudis. But I asked one of my guys, “Tell me. If old Hoobastank over here converted to Christianity tomorrow, what would you do?” Without batting an eye, they said, to a man, “We would kill him.” Now, keep in mind, this was not told to me be a friend of a friend of a cousin of a father of a mother of an uncle of a babysitter. This was MY conversation.

“So, you guys would just up and kill ole Hoobastank. No mercy. Nothing?” They responded with, “Well, we would give him an opportunity to change his mind.” “And if he said no, then you would kill him?” “Yup.” “But he is your friend.” “Doesn’t matter.” “Would you at least bury him?” “?” “Crap. Okay then, let’s brief tomorrow’s flight.” No, we are not the same.

Today: No, we are still not the same

I watched a news report about two to three years ago. Current internet searches show the same thing. 44-60% of Gen Z hold favorable views for communism. Many of those prefer communism to capitalism. Of course, they say this as they are holding their $1200 iPhone and sipping their $6 coffee. At the same time, of those who are 18-29 years of age, 34 hold favorable views of communism. I have to sit back and ask what in the heck has our school system been teaching our kids? It seems as though after the Department of Education was founded in 1979, thank you Jimmy Carter, our country has done a wonderful job of raising now a second generation of little America hating commies.

When I graduated high school in 1979, if you asked that question, what answer do you think you would have gotten? When I flew for Strategic Air Command (SAC), we knew what I still believe to be the correct world order. We knew who the enemy was then and unless that enemy has changed their doctrine, which they haven’t, they are still the enemy. Unfortunately, so many of our young kids are wanting to model themselves after the other side. They have learned well. They have learned from the best. Whether it be Goebbels, Tung, Marx, Lenin, these little communist running amok in our country are using the Nazi, Fascist playbook to the tee.

Don’t get what you want. Protest. That doesn’t work, violence. Burn, fight, destroy, rip apart, and then accuse the other side of being and doing exactly what you are doing. No, we are not the same. These people disparage America, and for what? Please tell me why in the heck you are fighting ice when all they are doing is trying to get the bad guys out of our country. If the local police would just turn over these guys, often already sitting in jail, then all would be fine. But why are they fighting to keep these guys in the country? I saw several idiot people who said, “Yeah, but only 14% of the people arrested were violent criminals.” They do realize that 14% of the 400,000 arrested is 56,000 murders, rapist, and those causing assault, off the streets. Also, it has been reported that even if it is known that a person committed a violent crime in their home country but not here, that record does not count in this statistic. Also, crimes like human trafficking, fraud, burglary, shoplifting, prostitution are not counted in this group. How can any American fight law enforcement in an attempt to keep known murderers, rapists, pedophiles, drunk drivers, and the like in our country? No, we are not the same. By the way, how long did the illegal aliens last in Martha’s Vineyard?

And one more. I wrote our Senator Katy Britt a letter saying it is high time we give the death penalty to rapists. I truly believe it. Especially the rape of a little girl and of course with the influx of weirdos from other countries, the rape of little boys. I am done with it. Yet Governor Spanberger wants to do away with mandatory sentences for rape. What? No, we are not the same.

- Dems want boys to compete with girls in sports. No, we are not the same.

- Dems want men to be able to use women’s and girls’ restrooms and locker rooms. No, not the same.

- One dem lawmaker says we should not have dogs in our houses because it keeps blessings and angels away. No, we are not the same.

There will be more of this to come. Cheers for now. T8er

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.