Leaving on a Jet Plane

When I was younger I was fascinated by men in uniform and if the uniform is of a fighter pilot nothing like it. Of course I never met any fighter pilots in my sleepy little one-horse town, but who's to stop a little girl from dreaming? Some of my male friends have admitted to wanting to grow up and become a fighter pilot (without going through the stressful training involved of course). I knew only one girl who wanted to become one... gender bias exists when we dream too. I'm sure a lot of young girls are smitten by a guy in uniform... the funniest representation of this is shown in the series "30 Rock" where Tina Fey's character 'Liz Lemon' always fantasises being married to Astronaut Mike Dexter who is always roaming about in his astronaut's uniform.

Now, finally Chrys and I have a friend who is a genuine fighter pilot in the Indian Navy (yeah, Navy also has airplanes). Yesterday, we were out for dinner and this (much married) fighter pilot friend of ours was joking that he had a good view. Since we were sitting at a restaurant at the seaside we thought he meant the sea-view. It turned out he meant the view of a table across where four young girls were sitting and chatting away animatedly. Maybe because all of us turned and openly stared at those girls or maybe they didn't really like the table... whatever the case, they shifted their seats to a different part of the restaurant. Our friend was disappointed. I told him that he should have gone up to them and told them that he was a fighter pilot. That could have made them change places and seat themselves back where our fighter pilot could get a good view. Then again, maybe not. He was not in uniform you see.