YOUNG MUTANTS

Long past midnight I was self-tasked with keeping an airplane aloft from NOLA to Japan with not one, not two but three typhoons aimed at that plane’s destination. The plane left NOLA at 5 AM (EST), about the time the first typhoon was predicted to hit Tokyo. Two other typhoons were still waiting to land. On that plane is a young lady of admirable strength: a Katrina survivor, NOLA native, high school valedictorian, etc. She arrived safely in Tokyo 1:30 AM (EST), a journey by jet of twenty hours 30 minutes. She had not slept for 27 hours. She was there to fulfill an earlier commitment as a partial repayment to all the people who came to NOLA’s aid after Katrina. She was there to help Japanese survivors of a tsunami. She has not reached the ultimate destination of those tsunami survivors yet but is well and on her way as the Tokyo pictures she sent back testify.

She is not a politician, rock star, star of an upcoming movie, book author or any other celeb looking for a photo op. She is a lowly college sophomore doing what generations of decent people have done and do: paying forward people to people aid. I mention her story because today’s media give little exposure to such good news.

Shortly after noting the nomadic and pay it forward nature of the above relative my youngest (22 YO) grandson made a 3000 mile vacation trip so the travel lust may have a genetic component. He spent a week in Seattle, Washington… not Japan but closer to it than his lifetime home in Atlanta. He loved it. The only negative was he found his wardrobe inadequate for the climate there. That gave me pause regarding his judgment but a minor glitch as travel problems go. He returned yesterday and I was not prepared that during that vacation he called his Atlanta boss and gave his two week notice after finding and accepting a job he liked in Seattle. Found an apartment there and signed a lease. Upon his return he sold all his non essential possessions and packed his car with his essential possessions and will drive back to Seattle.

Me thinks the genes they are mutating since my family got off their boats from Europe 1585-1607 in the South and have sat in the area never budging to go very far for very long.