Knowing When to Step on Someone’s Neck
Despite my strong spiritual inclinations, or perhaps because of them, I greatly admire men who know how to don the mask of anger just long enough to take care of urgent business.
In that respect, these two men earn my true admiration:
Shortly before landing, Bob Hayden and a flight attendant had agreed on a signal: When she waved the plastic handcuffs, he would discreetly leave his seat and restrain an unruly passenger who had frightened some of the 150 people on board a Minneapolis-to-Boston flight Saturday night with erratic behavior.
Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine.
“I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, ‘Retired captain. USMC.’ I said, ‘You’ll do,’ ” Hayden recalled. “So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation.”
Keep reading to the end — the final two paragraphs are priceless.
(Found via Insty’s link to The Anchoress)
UPDATE: More background on the story, and more of the sweet ending, here. (via RadiantSun)
