FLYING HIGH

An air show came to town this weekend. I love air shows, watching the sleek jets perform feats that seem impossible, stunt pilots perform sky acrobatics. 

At work, people sat outside on benches during lunch for a glimpse of the pilots practicing. After work, I made a stop at my local library. Outside, a group of teens stood in the parking lot. I watched the boys while they looked at the plane. Instead of marveling at the pilot's talent, the boys each shot vulgar gestures toward the streaking planes. The boys laughed with delight, each trying to outdo the other.

Though the gestures were vulgar and unimaginative, I found the scene amusing. The pilot they were trying to insult, was total unaware of them. That pilot was flying so high, those boys were merely a speck. There insults meant nothing to him.

This scene was especially powerful since I have occasionally felt the insults of others. Like the pilot, I have not deliberately provoked the one throwing out insults. Perhaps, it is just natural for such things to happen, from time to time. 

It seems to me, the best revenge is to be like that pilot. Stay on course and keep on flying. Fly so high and so well, that the insults of others become inconsequential.