Dr_StrangeloveGA

My father was in Vietnam, US Army 1968-1969. He won't talk about it, I've only heard him mention it in snippets here and there. The two things I remember him saying most are:

The people there didn't care what kind of government they had, they just wanted the bombs to stop falling and the bullets to stop flying.

I was a little kid, probably six or so, and had all the army surplus web belts and canteens and the little wooden Springfield rifle with the wooden bullet in it, all that, we all did then, and I was proudly cinching up my little plastic army helmet in front of him, getting ready to go play "war" with the neighborhood kids. I remember him looking at me kind of sadly, almost with a tear in his eye as I put the helmet on and he said, "I hope you never have to wear one of those, son." Even then, they way he said it really struck me.

That's what Florida man eats right before he says "hold my beer" and gets on the news.

Source: lived in Bradenton for six years.

Say a FA forgot to latch the cabin door before push-off, because she was, oh - I don't know - possibly texting someone on her phone.

Would this cause the cabin door to fall off the plane and the emergency slide to automatically deploy? (Supposedly happened to a [now former] FA relative of mine) Causing the plane to be evacuated and parked for a month or so while a new door was ordered?

Yep, supposedly. According to my relative, she closed the cabin door but forgot to actually latch/lock/whatever you do before takeoff it and the door fell off the aircraft as it pulled away from the gate, evidently eventually costing the airline millions of dollars.

That's what everyone in the family has asked, hell, cheap-ass passenger cars have a light that comes on if a door is ajar, I'd expect a passenger jet to have at least a light in the cockpit saying "Hey, the cabin door isn't locked".

Other than that, she was apparently on her phone and just forgot to latch the door after closing it.

Indeed she did work for a United states airline. That was the story as I heard it, I never quite believed it, as I supposed there would be the checks and balances you describe.

I figured it was a cover story for some other bone-head thing she did to get fired. She had nearly 30 years in when whatever happened, happened.