Hello. That must have been a terrifying experience for all those people on that plane when the engine blew up. The time it took for the pilot to turn it around and head for the nearest safe place to land must have seemed like forever, and the turbulence inside the cabin as filmed by one of the passengers looked frightening, to say the least. One can only imagine the relief when Tammie managed to bring it down safely, but it's so very sad that one passenger lost her life.
It brought back memories of my first flight to the USA, Toronto was where we landed. Word got around that we had a female pilot, I was thrilled to hear this news. I said to my boyfriend that I would love to meet her, so he had a word with the steward, and we were invited into the cockpit to say hello. I was over the moon, it was an experience I'll never forget. She was happy to chat for a few minutes, while the plane flew on auto. This wouldn't happen now, such is the fear of a terrorist attack.
I remembered asking her some of the questions I had been asked as a trucker, like how do you get on with your colleagues, are you accepted, and do you get the same opportunities. I was curious to know how difficult she had found it to get to where she was in her career. The fact that she was in charge of a whole aircraft made my achievements of driving 38 tonne truck, pale into insignificance.
I am so pleased to hear about women who have set their sights on aiming high, (sometimes literally), in their career, and actually achieved their goals and dreams. It takes a certain kind of personality to push ahead when the odds are stacked against you. I'm not a feminist, not a women's libber, and I would never go on a march for women's rights. I have never wanted preferential treatment in my working life, I just wanted equal rights, and equal opportunities.
I remember doing a live television interview on a morning chat programme in the studios in London. The topic was that BP, the big oil company, were offering free training courses to women who wanted to become lorry drivers. I was outraged at this, so I asked them live on camera if they were offering the same opportunities to men. They weren't, but I was glad I had made my point.
Thank goodness for Tammie, she managed to save the lives of a lot of people.
The sun is shining and I am going to spend the day outside. Thank you for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMy longarm quilter was one of the first semi tractor trailer drivers in the US. She has now retired and has a lot of stories. She was a single mother and it was the only job she could find with her level of education and her father/brothers suggested it. I give her a lot of credit for all she went thru to keep her family together. Ana Sweet USA
ReplyDeleteHi Ana, nice to hear from you. Could you do me a big favour and add your name to the top of your comment as I have done here. It's easy to do, instructions on the side bar. It is helping me to dump the spam much quicker, which always comes in under Anonymous. Thanks.
DeleteOur daughter (37) has been a commercial pilot for 13 years. She taught flying at a university for two years before that, gaining enough flight hours to be hired by an airline.
ReplyDeleteOne time when she was flying with another female pilot a family asked for a photo of the two of them, they wanted to inspire their daughters.
At the beginning she did get comments on her youthful appearance ( are you old enough to drive a car?)
She loves her job and considers it the best in the world!
Ah yes, you mentioned your daughter before, Jan. She has done well for herself, I'm not surprised that you are proud of her.
DeleteI am also proud of our first black female Brigadier General, United States Marine Corps, Col. Lorna Mahlock!
ReplyDeleteLisa in Miami
Thank you Lisa, it's good to have a roll model to look up to.
DeleteLike you, Ilona, all I wanted was equal opportunity. Any time a free training is offered to a demographical group that is discrimination and just fans the flames of hatred.
ReplyDeleteI was also a trucker from the age of 40....for 15 years until I had to give it up to care for my Mother, I did European work, sometimes away from home for 3 weeks at a time, on two occasions taking jobs the men would not do in Southern Italy....also near the end night trunking from Preston to Stranraer 5 nights a week, I was also a member of your trucking group.... I would never join in women's rights groups but I found it easy to fit in with being accepted into a male environment....gender should not stop anyone from achieving an ambition.
ReplyDeleteHello Tilly. I'm trying to remember if we ever met, your face looks familiar. Did you come to the Poplars Truck Show which I organized, or any of the Truckshows? I see you are in Lancashire. You have a nice blog, I've put you on the sidebar.
Delete
ReplyDeleteI just recently saw "Come from Away" for the second time - the story of all the planes that landed in Gander, NFLD on 9/11. One of the real stories featured is about the pilot, the true story of Beverley Bass, a trailblazing pilot who made history as the first female captain for American Airlines, anchors the hit Broadway show about Newfoundland's kindness to thousands of stranded passengers and crew after 9/11. One of the showstopper numbers is her song about how she became a pilot - she worked all kinds of jobs from childhood in order to pay for lessons, put up with crap jobs as she worked her way up - and then landed her jumbo jet with hundreds onboard without even knowing what was happening. She and Tammie are the sorts of women we should applaud and the sort of woman young girls should aspire to emulate. Great post!
Thank you for that story, I reckon there are many more heroines that we never get to hear about.
DeleteI remember watching TV in the 60s and my dad saying "Look Look it's a woman playing the drums in that group - and she's good at it." The group was the Honeycombes and it was on Top of the Pops. Being just a kid I didn't really understand why it was a big deal as my dad did cooking cleaning washing etc so it wasn't really a sexist upbringing. At senior school we were also allowed to choose metalwork or woodwork as an option which was seen as very progressive back then. Times have moved on but I still think total equality has a long way to go. I read something in the press recently about several big companies paying women less than men for the same job so the fight for equal pay is still not yet sorted. All the best love this blog xx
ReplyDeleteI remember the Honeycombs, I went to see them live in a local club. I love to see a woman playing the drums.
DeleteSadly we didn't have a choice of subjects when I went to school, I might have chosen woodwork over cooker.
I remember the Honeycombs too!,Think they sang Have I the Right?...I did woodwork when I was at school cause I was useless at making jam tarts...I still am,lol,xx
DeleteHi Ilona,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your comments about equal opportunity, that is all I have ever wanted. I went to a women’s college and while feminism was trendy there, we learned to earn what we wanted, not get special treatment. I am saddened that so many today believe that they need or deserve a special path to achieve....sad given its implications about ability to achieve. I read a feminist quoted saying she didn’t want to be considered female...gees, what we were taught was that it was good to be female and we had special talents. Good topic, thanks for getting us thinking :)
I am glad I went to a mixed school. Couldn't afford to go to college, had to find a job at 15.
DeleteThis Pilot did an amazing job. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteI too agree, equal opportunity for all. There were many tough times growing up, and even in adulthood, I have struggled with this.....not always successfully....
I have to say though, that at times it goes the other way...Boys (men are discriminated against). And too, sometimes nothing can be done, or sometimes it seemed best (to me) that nothing be done. I have a son who had/has a lot of health challenges. Back about age 12, there was a school wide competition for his grade. The winner was going to get to spend an entire school day with a scientist. He came home (and for several days) was madly excited, because frankly, he had a good chance of winning. And for someone who had to work/struggle so hard with health challenges, this was huge.....You might wonder (at the end) why I didn't address this with the teach/headmaster, but I had experience previously, and questioning "things" did not improve things, so to speak. etc..
So he comes home a few days after it was announced (and he had prepared/started the work), and says..."the teachers told us that no boys would be allowed to compete, only the girls". I could see how upset he was, and I truly believed his life would be made worse if I made a row at the school/etc...But I had to say something...I think what I came up with in the spur of the moment, was both true and applicable and quite honestly is the way I would have felt as a girl if I had been in that situation..(As a girl in school I was tops in maths and science and writing, and quite happy to pit my skills against the boys)...
---So I scrunched up my face in fury, raised my voice in anger and indignation and spouted forth something to the effect...."If I had a daughter in that school, or I was in that school I would be FURIOUS that they thought my daughter so stupid she need such a "benefit" as to eliminate the boys from the competition. How DARE they think the girls are that stupid?".....He thought that over for a short minute, and although still disappointed he wasn't allowed to "try", he also was a bit put off/indignant that folks there seemed to feel the girls were less capable and therefore should not compete fairly.---
You looked at that situation from a different angle and came up with the perfect answer. I have sometimes blurted out my feelings about some injustice on the spur of the moment, and although I was right, it might have come out a lot better if I had taken time to construct my thoughts into meaningful sentences. Sometimes we have to say what's in our heads.
DeleteIt's called staircase wisdom and happens to all of us.
DeleteMeanqueen....Thank you for saying it was the "perfect answer". At the time, even long since, I have often wondered, if I should have attempted to "talk" to the school/etc..Yet, bad experience myself and others with such, and the certainty it would not garner my son the opportunity to compete fairly, made me feel I had to say something to my son. Also, I felt it had to be something honest and true...(to my mind anyway)...And too, I wanted to give him the message that girls are not stupid and were quite able to compete on a equal footing (look at you...a truck drive in a men's "world")....The very incredible thing..----I am not a quick thinker/figurer out...Yet I still recall standing there looking at his crushed face/hopes, it must have taken me all of ten seconds to come up with above. And, it really did strike a chord with him at how absurd it was to think girls were not capable..etc...I really think it was "divine intervention", as even long past, I think it was a good answer...
DeleteHi Ilona,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog recently and I love it. You are really inspiring for someone who want to find a way to be more frugal. Maybe my English is not correct,because I am Swedish and it is easier to read than to write in English. We do do not have or I have not found any similar blog in Sweden. They who writes abourt frugality in Sweden are usually middle class people who wants to zize down from their hectic academic jobs. People with Money that can afford to save and retire in their fourties. So I do not have much in common with them even if it can be interesting to read about someone far away from your own way to live your Life. Happy to find your blog
Loved your post, and the comments above. Don't give up on being a feminist though, it's a banner I'm happy to put myself under, although I've never been on a march. It is a kind of way of presenting a united front to the world (and the press!). It was never to do with burning bras. It is obviously better to be able to present yourself simply as a person doing stuff, as you do, but for those of us with no profile it is a good place to be included in.
ReplyDelete