Cockpit Cool

Last night I listened to the voice box tape of the conversation between the pilot that put the A320 plane in the Hudson. (flight USAir 1549, I think) They call him Sully.

It reminded me of something I wrote in my book. I said that my mother always had 'Cockpit cool.' When things got tough she stayed calm. She didn't stand still, get paralyzed with fear or anything like that but she functioned quickly, effeciently and handled things.

Because my father was bi-polar there was a lot of action in my house. But mom knew that her emotions had to run in the exact opposite direction from her husbands. And it was that, and that alone, which allowed me to grow up with any sense of stability.

I did a book signing in which I discussed this. One by one people started telling me about the person in their house who was raising the roof and how much of a secret it was and how they got by. Had a room full of crying women at the end. I am not sure I may have blogged about this already.

Anyway, the point is his voice, the calm he exhibited when he said "we are going into the Hudson" was, I believe in large measure due to 2 things. 1. People who choose to fly thing have a certain barvery about them and 2. They train to be cool under pressure.

I am, by genetic make up, not the first thing. That not withstanding I have been trying to develope the second all of my life. What Sully did in the air my mom did on the ground. What she did wasn't a grand heroic thing like his but oh, how magnificient it was for my sister and I. That's why I wrote the book. An homage to a woman who had cockpit cool right here on terra ferma.

So here is today's point. To the extent we can all work towards that cool we can be our own personal heros, not to 155 people on a plane, but to everybody who relies on us. It doesn't mean bury your emotions or pretend like things don't matter. It doesn't mean shut down your heart or be cold and emotionless.

It means PRACTICE THE CALM. Work it like it is a job.

Can you imagine all of the nonsense that would not occur if we all "Sullied" our attitude a little bit. And trust me people, we have emotional work to do. Road rage, parents having to sign conduct agreements when they put thier kids in a sports league? Have we turned into a country full of 2 year olds?

What if we didn't get insulted or disrepsected all of the time? What if we calmly conferred instead of confronting? What if we thought before we popped? It's not something you can just decide to do. It is something you have to work on.

Why don't we?

I got a little emotional when I heard the tape. Made life in my childhood home come rushing back to me. Made me realize YET AGAIN, the beauty of what my mother did. She doesn't see it that way. She saw it as her job. My understanding is that that pilot felt the same way. He was doing his job.

Do you know what your job is? Sometimes I forget. Got reminded last night. "We're going into the Hudson" he said all calm and cool. I am quite sure I will never be a Sully or a Toni Toler. But I'm working on it. All the people who love me and work with me deserve a better me.

I get so wound up sometimes I can't sleep. The world screams at me on occasion. I hate that. I should learn to take it as it comes, hear the whispers and react, not with a sense of panic (which is usually my first response to anything) but with cockpit cool. (or, if not that ,a weak imitation thereof.)


This is my ten cents worth today. Let's say we put it into the Bank of Effort and turn it into $1.25 worth of better behavior.