looking at bright spots

[Gunslinger]

This was a great article and it deals with an interest on this board.....Aviation.   to billy

As we remain airborne in a chopper over the hurricane-raped landscape, our battle to stay with this story continues to find fuel.

Today, we landed at Stennis Field in Mississippi. It's a mess. The general aviation area was swamped by the winds and rain. Like so many spots here there is no electricity. The problem with that: There's no way to pump the fuel from the holding tanks to the delivery truck.

A generator delivered by a military chopper solved that problem. But who would man the delivery truck?

Well, his name is Billy and he's 13-years-old. This was his second day on the job. In a fuel truck, windows shattered by Katrina, the skinny teenager drives from chopper to chopper fueling them up.

His father usually runs the fuel farm here, but he had to leave. Their house was destroyed. They have little food. Billy has slept in a partially destroyed hangar since Katrina wrecked his home.

I gave Billy some cold drinks from our cooler and $20. He was thrilled. Not by the drink but by the tip. He held the cash up in front of the "rat jack" dog perched on the fuel truck's front seat. He held it in front of his pet's face for a few moments.

When we left, I saw a teenager's smile like one I have not seen since the hurricane hit.

Here amid this disaster, for just one moment, a young boy, who's taken on the job of a man, reminded us all: Look for the bright spots. It will help us all get through this.

and they say that kids today have no drive and ambition.

[Maverick]

Some folks step up to the challenge and gain in stature. Others step down and just complain at how bad theings are or worse yet simply loot to gain as much as they can from the misfortune of others adding to the burden.

to that 13 year old MAN.

[Jackal1]

The way some of these stories are getting twisted around, we will probably see an article in the Enquirer next week about this stating that Billy was actualy the illigit love child of Snoop Dog and how he single handedly surrounded and commandeered the truck and generator from a Guard unit and continued on in his crime spree jackin up chopper pilots and shaking them down for jewelry and price gouging fuel prices with stolen fuel, all the while living and surviving on the flesh of his father who he had stored in a cooler.

 Yea, to the kid. Seems like in a number of cases reported so far that the kids showed way more common sense and took more positive action than the adults around them.

[airbumba]

Biggest bright spot......the US Coast Guard. These folks are unbelievable, since the beginning they were there. No press conferences, no patting each other on the back, just hour after hour, day after day, saving lives, one hoist at a time.

The US Coast Guard rocks!!!

[Maverick]

Airbumba,

Agreed, in spades.

I know there are some here who would downplay their actions by saying they were merely doing their jobs. That would be in error and a serious underestimation of folks who do the real hero thing day after day without any chance of making the money a single ball player would make.

[parker00]

I know there are some here who would downplay their actions by saying they were merely doing their jobs.

I was watching something the other day and the coast guard guy was saying that they're not use to this type of rescue mission. They are usually out in open water and don't have to worry about a lot a debris, power lines, building, etc. I saw one rescue a few days ago that showed the roof of a house being ripped off because the wind from the helicoptic blades. This is above and beyond what they normally work around. to them all!!!