I was in Soel Korea on my way back from Pusan. I was really looking forward to getting on the plane, because I was away from home about three weeks, and was sick of watching "I Dream of Jeanie" in Korean. There is nothing to do in Pusan Korea if you are not Korean. Anyway I reached the boarding area for my flight and they had the gangway all roped off with those bank line ropes. Everybody was just standing around, and they all seemed a little nervous.
It was getting about time to board the plan. Then a fight attendant pulled up on one of the ropes back and this group of guys all dressed in the same two pieced suits came running from outa nowhere, and ran strait down into the plane. I thought, "That's the nicest dressed cleaning crew I have ever seen." So I waiting for the cleaning crew to get off the plane, when they announced, "All First Class passengers can board now." Only one dude when in. Then they called for business class and the pushing started.
When I entered the plane it was through first class. I thought that I had entered one of those bad "Twilight Zone" shows. The section was packed with all of these ex-football player types, all short hair, all dressed the same. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes and, I started up the stairs to find my seat.
When I got upstairs and started to settle into my seat, I overheard some people with English accents talking about how the president was on the plane, and they saw him going to the john as they were climbing the stairs. I really didn't think much about it. The only other strange thing that happened was this weird announcement, "If you don't have a first class seat you can't go up into first class for any reason, not even to use the restroom." Huh, they seem sorta picky here on Korean Air.
The plane tookoff and the movies started. The first one was some chick flick that I didn't watch. The second one was "Under Siege 2." Great flick. Then they turned down the lights and people started to drift off to sleep. I can't sleep on planes so I started reading.
The plane was quiet for a couple of hours and then this woman on the other side of the plane and two rows back from me started screaming, "He's not breathing! He's not breathing!" She keep this up for about five minutes. That woke up the whole plane, the lights went on and the stewardess started running around. The announcement, "If there is a doctor on the plane, can he report to the top section." blared out, and doctors started coming out of the woodwork. This huge stewardess rushed by my row carrying an Oxygen bottle. When the doctor showed up I over heard them saying that he has a pulse, and they told the screaming lady finally to shut up.
The first thing through my mind was, "we are over the ocean, where the hell are we going to divert to. I think this dude is dead, or I'm going to be real late." I had been through one of these before, on the way to Phoenix, and we had to stop in Denver to let the oldman off.
Everyone calmed down and the stewardess started serving breakfast. When the fat one got around to me I asked, "Is that guy gonna be alright, He scared the hell outa me?" It wouldn't be funny if she didn't actually say this, but this is what she said, "I think he's gonna be alright now. He sucked down a whole bottle of Oxygen, I think he`s feeling better!" It was like there wasn't enough Oxygen left for the rest of us. Then she followed that up with, "Now he is downstairs getting his picture taken with the president." Wow, I always thought fat people were supposed to be jolly. I shut up and ate my eggs. I didn't want her mad at me.
As the plane tipped its nose down and started its descent into San Francisco, I looked up, and saw a old man walking down the isle from the cockpit. I didn't think much about it. The people behind me had all of their crap out in the isle so the guy had to stop right by my seat until these passengers cleaned up their stuff. I looked up and was staring right into the face of ex-president George Bush. I recognized him right away, and gave him my best K-mart smile. He didn't recognize me at all, but he still smiled at me. Then he headed off down the isle. The dude across from me and one row back saw him coming and asked, "Mister Bush can you please sign this for me." He had his United Airways mag. Bush signed it and talked to him a little. Then he got down to where the lady and oldman were sitting. He bent over and asked the oldguy, "Are you gonna make it the rest of the way to San Francisco?"
He replied, "Yea!" and they talked for awhile. Then George headed down the stairs to first class.
After we landed, George was outa that plane like a shot, and when I got to customs the officer
asked me if I was a friend of George Bush. I said I sure was, I didn't want any trouble. He let me sail right through. I tell this story to anyone who will listen, and I have no proof that it happened at all, but I think most people believe me.
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