In my line of work when a jet comes back we ask the pilot what the code is, if its code 1, those are the best words a crew chief could hear...means the jet is good to go, ready to fly again. Code 2, well something is wrong but it can still make the mission...Code 3....well its grounded till whatever is wrong is fixed. These are machines, but like our lives we sometimes feel like we need fixing until we can move forward. Things happen in flight that we don't expect to happen...much like our lives.
The difference is that we don't have a bunch of crew chiefs and specialists running around troubleshooting whats wrong and fixing the problem. No one to "swap a box", or "change a line" to make the system work again. We have other avenues and people that help us out but its on us to make the difference in our lives. As I write this I am going through a divorce, a huge life crisis at 40, possible major career change, and trying to figure out how this will work so I can feed my kids.
I am trying to see if I can reconcile my marriage....even though that its probably a lost cause. Trying to salvage a career that spans over 17 years, keep from my character from being attacked by people with no integrity, and all the while trying to figure out what is next to fall out of place in my life and try to keep a smile on my face for my babies....sound familiar? Yeah definitely Code 3!
The difference is that I have to continue to fly, I don't have that option...much like so many others that feel the same way. Life gets turned upside down and from one minute to the next you haven't got a clue where to turn or which way is up. So where do you turn to? Who do you rely on? Where is your crew chief? For a while I had no idea...I went into a very dark place where I thought there was no way out. It seems like today there are more people who feel this way, but why? Why do we feel that way and thing there is no way to deal with the pressure? Why can't we just deal and make a way to get to a Code 2 at least?
Has the integrity of our society changed so much that we can no longer trust or value each other? Why can't we just make the right choices and base it on basic respect for our fellow man? We complain about everything and have no solution except to not offend each other....but why? Heck yea I am offended when my pilot takes my jet and brings it back code 3...but guess what I suck it up, fix it and make it whole again, why aren't we doing this for each other?
I probably sound like a person who is just complaining...but I am talking for all of those who feel the same way!! For everyone who are asking the same questions but are falling on deaf ears. The people who feel like they are alone and have no one to turn to, who feel like they don't deserve goodness or can't see the other side....Im here!! I am still here and I am fighting because I am the example of the few that may have integrity left, that they want to do good by others, who want to make a difference!!
Its definitely not the way it used to be, where we actually gave a damn about our neighbors, where we actually praised God, and spoke about how we walked with him. Heck even hardcore rappers spoke about how they had walked with God to be blessed...where did it all go away? When did everyone feel entitled to something but isn't responsible for anything? When did having respect become the wrong thing to do, and we let the kids run the circus? In a book that I have read...which I believe every single parent should read, "The Collapse of Parenting" by Dr Leonard Sax he speaks about how even in shows that seem innocuous are feeding into the culture of disrespect.
I grew up on shows like "Knight Rider", "Airwolf", "The A-Team", even watched reruns of "The Jeffersons', and "All in the Family"....Shows like those always had a message, and no one ever got offended. Some of those shows wouldn't even be able to have had the script read out load let alone have a Pilot episode created. Why is that? What has changed? Our culture has changed from, let's help each other out and live as a team, to lets not offend each other and give me what I feel I deserve. It went from working hard for what I earned, to give me what you have because I don't have enough and I don't think you need all that much.
All of this creates this fear of never having enough, and also a fear of who is out to get me for what I have. This is why I believe has led to the breakdown of the integrity of our society. This has left a void in our society for people to step up for fear of retribution of being shamed for being decent. A fear of being a person of integrity has become worse than being labeled a drug dealer, or criminal. This is why so many people feel like they have no one to turn to or feel like they can not trust anyone to help them get ahead or out of the rut that they are in.
Mark my words there will be a resurgence of people who feel that integrity is paramount to having a society where people not only thrive, but are more respectful of everything that others hold dear. This is how people will overcome their differences and divisions. Faith in the common man and above all faith in God that has created our world. You may not believe in God, or be religious, but I am faithful. Faithful to my vows, faithful to my friends, faithful to my country, and faithful to my savior Jesus Christ.
That may offend some people....get over it!! You will be alive after you read this or not, but the person who maybe reaching out to you for help, why don't you be faithful to your fellow man?! Be faithful in the needs of society where they feel like they are Code 3 and have no one to turn to or feel like they have no way out. Be faithful to your country that has given you so much to be grateful for. Above all be faithful to your fellow person that even though you do not know personally...you may not know what they are going through, what hole they maybe in...and you never know you may be that crew chief that helps them become Code 1 again.