..are sometimes meant to be good things
April 18, 2012 (Wednesday)
It happened in January 2011, well over a year ago. But the news is only recently being revealed. A Boeing 767 experienced an incident that left 16 passengers injured and 7 hospitalized. What happened?
Well, it was a late night flight. Flight crews sometimes take naps (limited by regulation to 40 minutes to avoid being disoriented upon awakening). The First Officer on this trip stayed asleep 75 minutes, and when he woke up and saw the planet Venus, he thought it was another plane headed straight for them on a collision course. Actually there was another plane the crew was discussing, but it was 1000 feet below them. In his confused state, the First Officer pushed the stick forward, putting the plane into a dive. The Captain pulled the stick back after a 400 foot drop. Then they started looking for a place to land, because they had injured passengers on board.
Because of his disorientation and confusion, the First Officer did a bad thing by attempting to do a good thing. If the approaching light had belonged to an airplane, his action would have been commendable, but, alas, it was a planet more than 100 million miles away. In his attempt to save lives, he became the cause of several injuries.
Have you ever tried to do a good thing, only to have it end up being a bad thing? When the accusations began to be hurled against you, did you wish for some compassion and understanding, and did you wonder why nobody seemed to give you credit for wanting and trying to do the right thing? It’s not a good feeling.
Next time somebody does a bad thing, why not weigh all the factors that might have been involved and show a little kindness? It will do everyone a lot of good.