While I new we were in Europe because my Dad was a VP for Europe for a Japanese company and he often had to travel to different countries since it had to do with airlines. Anyway, he always felt it was important to expand the horizons of his children, and especially his only son (I have an older and younger sister). So while we lived in Paris (now if you REALLY want some stories, imagine being 14 and 15 in Paris . . . enough said on that one) he would often take me on his business trips, and after his work was done, we would spend time seeing the sites. Now this was 1980 during the Cold War and he got approval to take me to Leningrad and then up to Moscow before we flew to Stockholm. We flew out of Leningrad one fine January day and it was bitterly cold. The flight we were on had a kinda first class if I remember right and then in what we would call coach was some interesting things. We'll the flight from Leningrad to Moscow isn't too long but as we began to approach the stewardesses (and you have to mentally imagine, one very cute one and the other three were bigger than I am now) came up and in front of us, interlocked arms and started jumping. After what seemed a minute or so, they stopped and went back to work. I asked my Dad what they were doing and the cute one who was serving our area said they had to help the front landing gear get down. Boy, at 14 that blew my mind and I was pretty nervous until we landed (and as an FYI, my Dad flew and I had flown many times with him and a friend who was an instructor). Then my Dad broke out laughing and said no group of Russian stewardesses could get a stuck landing gear down. I felt pretty had at that point. Anyway, I'll never forget the big Russian Stewardesses jumping up and down to get a frozen/stuck front landing gear to drop. I always wondered what they thought of me because they each came passing my seat and looking at me. The deicer stories about my youth in Paris though aren't for the board and I don't want a written record available for black mail latter on. Lets just say living in Paris was a terrific opportunity and I got the education of a lifetime! Yes, Chuck, I will look forward to hearing your story about Astoria and the woman involved. On Sat, Nov 5, 2011 at 7:51 PM, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Born in Portland? One day I'll tell you about the afternoon I spent in the Astoria jail in 1980...
Yes, there was a woman involved. LOL!
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