Procedure Versus Approval

Peering around the bushes past the metal fencing designed to keep hoodlums like himself out, Josh aimed his weapon of choice at the ascending aircraft and shot at the pilot in the cockpit.

As the pilots prepared to ascend into the air, a flash of green light blinded them both, causing them to abort the trip and turn back to the terminal.

“Air control, please alert security that someone is shooting a laser at our plane. It seems to be coming from the northwest.”

Seeing the plane turn safely back to the airport, Josh sneered at the retreating aircraft and smiled as he successfully delayed another flight, wreaking havoc with the schedules of departures at the airport.

While from the outside Josh’s actions seemed like the shenanigans a rebellious teenager might participate in, he was in actual fact getting revenge against the airline companies.

His father was a seasoned pilot, having fifteen years of flight under his belt, but when a passenger was getting a little too close to the cockpit area, he stepped in to assist the flight attendants in ushering the man back to his seat. While he was physically subduing the man, some passengers took videos of the encounter on their phones, and the news broadcasted the incident country-wide, sparking protests about racial stereotyping.

The following week, the airline company let Josh’s father go, conceding to the demands of the protesters, despite the fact he had over fifteen years of a clean record and that he was only following company procedure.

When Josh heard about his father’s layoff, he was indignant, flabbergasted at how even doing the right thing was considered heinous in society’s eyes.

And so, Josh decided to take things into his own hands, not telling his father or mother of his plans and sneaking off to the large busy runways in the city’s main airport. After shooting several beams of light into several departing aircraft, he knew the authorities would be coming soon.

Hearing the sound of sirens and flashing lights getting close, Josh decided to make a tactical retreat, escaping through the bushes into the thick of the forest before cautiously entering back into the suburban district where he called home.

Opening the front door, Josh could already smell the delicious dinner his mother was working on, and the sound of the television told him his father was watching the evening news as always.

We now come to breaking news at the Lionsdale airport. There were several incidents of malicious acts where someone was shooting a laser at departing planes, forcing several delays and even some postponing of flights.

Josh’s father had practically given up trying to find a job, since wherever he went, the stigma of being accused of being a racist left companies hesitant to give him a job. It took the combined incomes of Josh and his mother to pay for the household expenses, but the budget was tight, not allowing for accidents such as the breakdown of the family car.

While dinner smelled wonderful, it was a fairly simple and humble affair, made of cheap leftover chicken and a handful of vegetables simmering in a pot of water with some bowtie pasta.

“Boys, dinner’s ready.”

“Smells delicious mom!”

“Well, they say even bitter food is delicious to someone who is hungry.”

Ladling most of the meat, pasta and vegetables to her son and husband, Josh’s mom gave herself more of the broth with only a smaller portion of the other ingredients.

“Are you back to work tomorrow Josh?”

Chewing a morsel and swallowing, Josh responded back to his father,

“Yeah, I’m scheduled for a shift at the auto body shop, oh and I’ll take a look at our car to see if I can fix it myself.”

“I’ll pack you a sandwich for lunch. How does egg salad sound?”

“Sounds great mom, thanks!”

As Josh and his father helped clear off the dishes, Josh peered into the pot to see if there were any leftover soup left to be had.

“Still hungry son? Sorry, that’s all the soup we had. I can make some buttered bread if you want.”

“I’m fine mom, no need to make me anything. I just didn’t want to waste any food.”

Lying on his bed hearing his stomach gurgling, Josh could only remember as if it were yesterday, the lavish meals they enjoyed with dad’s generous income as a pilot. Roast beef, barbeque chicken and premium hamburgers were all weekly staples for his family. But after his father’s job was terminated, protein was exceptionally uncommon and was substituted for the cheaper starch and carbohydrates such as rice, bread or pasta.

At the car repair shop that Josh worked in, everyone was talking about the marriage of one of their employees.

“Well, Roger’s going on vacation for a week for his honeymoon, we’re going to be busy and need everyone to work extra hours. Josh, do you mind working an extra shift this week?”

Knowing that his family needed the extra income, Josh eagerly agreed and went about his work repairing the cars in the shop.

“Yo Josh, can I borrow your fob to enter the office? I left mine at home today.”

“Yeah sure…give me a second.”

Pulling out his keychain, Josh unintentionally dragged out his laser pointer, which fell to the ground in front of his co-worker.

Chuckling nervously, Josh handed over the keychain and quickly pocketed his laser before anyone else noticed.

“That’s a nice laser pointer. Do you use it for presentations?”

“Err..no. I just use it for fun with my dog. He chases after the light like it was a rabbit or squirrel. Quite amusing.”

Clocking out of the car shop, Josh headed back to the airport, and taking his laser he waited for one of the large 747 planes to start their departure. After sighting a suitable target, he waited till the plane was on the runway and was just starting to take off when he shot his laser into the cockpit. As the plane pulled higher and higher out of range of the laser, it eventually rose free from the distracting beam of light.

Just as Josh prepared to shoot at another plane, a bright search light shone on his spot and he was instantly surrounded by security and police with sniffer dogs.

“Turn around, put your hands on your head and lie on the ground.”

“This is the canine unit; we’ve apprehended the suspect responsible for the laser shooting. Requesting transport vehicle to take suspect to our detention centre.”

As his hands were handcuffed and was shoved into the back seat of a police cruiser, Josh started to let tears fall down his face, realizing that he was no longer able to support his family by being in jail. Even more tears were shed when he was visited by his parents in the room divided by a large plexiglass barrier. At first, there was an awkward silence as both Josh and his parents didn’t know what to say given the direness of the situation. Then Josh’s dad asked the most prominent question that he and mother were dying to know,

“Why Josh? Son, why did you do it?”

“Josh, talk to us, if you explain to us why you did it, we can help you. But if you stay silent, there’s not much we can do to help your case.”

Looking down at the ground as drops of tears fell and splatted onto the concrete floor, Josh kept his silence and refused to give a reason for the crime that he perpetrated.

Soon Josh was taken to court, where his case was to be heard by the judge and jury, who would decide his sentence for his actions. Pilots testified that a green laser, which the authorities found in Josh’s possession, was used to blind the pilots as their planes prepared for departure, putting the entire crew and passengers of the affected planes in imminent danger.

“If it wasn’t for the quick reactions of the pilots of these planes, an accident might very well have occurred due to the laser distraction.”

The Crown called Josh up to the witness stand, and ultimately asked the most crucial question that could make or break his defence,

“Josh Parker, please tell us why you perpetrated these attacks on innocent people in innocent aircraft? This is your chance to explain yourself young man.”

After an awkward silence, Josh explained with a hint of angry dissent,

“I did it for my father. My father was a decorated pilot, who faithfully served the airline company for over fifteen years. But when he took a passenger back to their seat for being too close to the cockpit, the company fired my dad amidst allegations of racism by the press. My dad did what was required by company procedure, but when people started complaining about how he handled the situation, the airline did nothing to defend my dad and simply terminated his job. My dad understands that if passengers are allowed too close to the cockpit, they put the entire crew and all the passengers in danger if they were to attack the pilots. But instead of realizing this, the media simply blamed my dad as a racist to satisfy the crowd.”

“And so, is that why you decided to blind the pilots of those planes with your laser?”

“I decided to get my revenge on the airport that punished my dad for doing his job and now I can explain to everyone the error made by the media and airline company in accusing my dad of prejudice and racism. I did it to get the opportunity to expose the truth of the matter.”

Having made his case, Josh sat back down at his table and the jury went inside to deliberate on what should be the punishment for Josh. Coming out again, their spokesperson declared their agreement on the matter,

“We the jury find he defendant guilty with the charge of reckless engagement, and recommend a sentence of two months of community service.”

Accepting the consequences of his actions, Josh spent the next month helping out at a youth centre, teaching some of the students about mechanics and auto repair. When he went home after a full day of volunteer work, he found his father glued to the screen of the TV with mom as well.

“Dad, mom, what’s the matter?”

Looking at the television himself, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The twin World Trade Centre towers, which were only a two-hour drive away from their home in Philadelphia, were on fire, having been crashed into by two large 747 planes.

We are continuing our live coverage of this horrific incident where we believe terrorists had successfully infiltrated into several airplanes and successfully got near enough to the cockpit before taking control of it away from the pilots and diverting the planes into their suicide bombing of the north and south towers of the World Trade Centre.

His mouth gaping at the extent of the damage and the loss of life, Josh couldn’t understand how the terrorists could have gotten into the cockpit.

“Dad, aren’t the cockpits locked from the inside so no one can get in except the pilots?”

Shaking his head as if he knew all along that a risk like this was plausible, Josh’s dad explained what might have happened,

“If the perpetrators get close enough to the cockpit, they could rush the pilots whenever they unlock the door to converse with the flight attendants. Once they stop the doors from locking, there’s really nothing you can do to stop any terrorists.”

Watching the story unfold on the news, the family would have never guessed that a simple procedure, that was prematurely frowned upon by society, could have saved countless lives from the hands of evil men.