Small World - II

Th' Luvly Laura has a BFF named Marie with whom she went to high school, and with whom she shares her birthday.  They chose the same college, so they could continue their friendship, but after graduation they were separated... by me.  However, the friendship never wavered.  Th' Luvly Laura and I moved to Utah, while her friend moved back to Falls Church, Virginia.

After Graduate School, I moved us back to Ohio. I couldn't see me being able to support a wife on the Washington, D.C. economy. It was the second-most expensive place in the USA to live, and the jobs I was looking at would have had us living seventy-five miles from any job I got (an especially poignant irony at this point in my life). Th’ Luvly Laura and Marie could see each other a couple of times a year, when we came down to Falls Church to visit her folks.

In the fullness of time (about 1970) Marie married a very nice guy named Frank. Frank was a Violist in the Air Force Orchestra. ORCHESTRA? Who knew the Air Force, alone among the services, had an ORCHESTRA?!? But, sure enough, the Air force has an Orchestra, and Frank was a member thereof. And, lest you think this detail of information is nothing more than filler designed to expand a small story, be assured… Frank being a member of the Air Force Orchestra is the only thing that makes THIS Small World event possible.

The Air Force Orchestra is a travelling orchestra. In addition to events at various Air Force Bases world-wide, the Air Force Orchestra plays ‘official’ events upon request by Senators, Representatives, Governors and other high-ranking elected and appointed officials. Unfortunately, Frank hated flying, but it was in the job description, so fly he did… and therein lies my tale.

Much of the stateside travel by the orchestra was commercial air, rather than Air Force. For one thing, there weren’t always Air Force bases near the venue, and for another, the members of the orchestra preferred it. When your entire employee group has (and has demonstrated) the ability to completely humiliate Very Important People, who have displeased them by refusing what they saw as an eminently reasonable request, you tend to accommodate those requests whenever possible… which brings us to an afternoon on an expressway in Chicago.

During the ‘70s, I worked as an Environmental Planner for a multi-county planning agency, and when the EPA was formed, I immediately became the liaison… which meant regular trips to the regional EPA office in Chicago, and occasional trips to Washington. Th’ Luvly Laura (and our kids) usually accompanied me on Washington trips. My agency would pay me the cost of a plane ticket, and I’d drive. But I always flew to Chicago. Once I arrived, the trip downtown from O’Hare Airport was a bus ride (yes, a bus… built by Greyhound – there was a small plaque on the front dash that said so). The bus cost $3.00, or $5.40 round-trip. Taxis ran about twenty bucks… each way… plus tip. The bus was just as fast, and it stopped at every major hotel downtown.

On this particular afternoon, as I half dozed in my window seat on the marvelous Greyhound-built airport transport bus, I noticed that we were taking turns passing, and being passed by (as is often the case in rush hour), a couple of Air Force buses (built by Bluebird, the largest school bus manufacturer in the Eastern USA). Idly, I began scanning the bus, wondering if… and sure enough, the buses were carrying Air Force personnel AND they were carrying musical instruments.

So now, the question became… was this the orchestra, or an Air force Band? If it was the orchestra was…? And there, by the window, playing cards, sat Frank. I, of course had no way to communicate with him. Well, there was always motion, but who wants to look like an idiot, waving wildly out a bus window at an Air Force bus? Besides, I discovered as I tried, the window wouldn’t open. Ah well, I’d tried. I relaxed back and kept an eye on Frank. If he looked up, I was ready to wave, but he never did.

We swung off the expressway, and… so did the Air Force bus! Remember that I said the orchestra travelled commercial? Well, THIS is where I learned that little fact. I had always assumed they travelled by Air Force plane. But here they came, right with us. We swung into the Departure lane, pulled up to the airline I was flying, and the Air Force bus travelled on.

I bailed off the bus, grabbed my carry-on, and took off at a trot after the Air Force. I found them a LO-O-O-ONG way down the terminal. I was flying a Northwest feeder prop-jet to Akron-Canton Regional – they were flying a major airline 727 non-stop to Dulles Airport. I arrived out of breath, red-faced, and completely unable to speak. A hundred or more Air Force E-7 and E-8 Sergeants, two lieutenants, a Major and a full-bird Colonel stared at me with curiosity (mixed in a couple of cases with concern – who WAS this nutball?). Then Frank spoke up… “Chuck? Whunell are YOU doing here? And what are you DOING?”

“Got time for a drink?” I was still gasping, but I got it out.

Frank looked at the Colonel. “Sure, go ahead,” the Colonel said. “The plane should be ready to board in about 45 minutes.”

In those pre-9/11 days, that was plenty of time. I had even longer to wait for MY flight. I bought Frank a drink, and we caught up a bit before he had to go. The next time we went down to Washington, we all told each other how amazed we were at the power of serendipity.

© 2009 - All Rights Reserved R C Larlham