Bad

Excellent topic, very good conversation, but let's not go overboard too much, OK? There really aren't that many more illiterates then before, but the internet has democratized communication so much that the knucklheads are much more visible. Used to be, they could only mispell profanities on fences with spraypaint. Now they can jump right into the middle of intelligent on-line conversations.

To be sure, there are many marginally literate people on the boards, who have been badly served by the educational establishment. Let's try not to beat up good folks with bad educations, it ain't their fault. Generally speaking, the good ones will get better, the bad ones will get louder. And let's not give up hope, either, because things change, usually not for good or ill, but just becuz. There is a quote from Socrates (I think) floating around wherein he bemoans the state of Greek youth, in that they are disrespectful, uneducated and irresponsible, and the world is surely coming to end, etc, etc. Sounds a lot like my dad.

Now we get to the introduction part. My name is Dan Googins; Doc is my old call sign from my Air Force days. I've been involved in aviation for most of my life (I'm 54), and have recently (Jan 2006) started a business to attempt to change the culture of aviation in some small way. Wow! It's a good thing we can't foresee the future, most of us wouldn't get out of bed.

The short story is, I work with young women to encourage them to get involved in aviation in any capacity that they desire. Most of the girls that we work with have never even imagined the possibility. One young lady that went to an air show with us said, "I never knew this world existed, I was told that I could be a teacher or secretary or mother. Can I fly jets?" Our response was, "Would you like to?" She took her first flight in an airplane that same day. She is one our Plane-Girls, call sign Tiny Dancer, and is in the 2008 calendar that is now available. Our organization is dedicated to a new generation of women who fly, and the objective is to show young girls that they have more choices than they might have known. We consider ourselves the most dynamic women's aviation organization in existence today, and that's because we work with the disrespectful, uneducated and irresponsible young women who haven't been served well by the system. It's been way fun (not grammatically correct, I know, but truly descriptive).

After two years, my business partner and I have learned a lot of hard lessons and taken some hard hits, but it's been worth it. A couple of weeks ago I was working very late on a project (my day job is avionics engineering), so I stopped in a local coffee shop just as they were closing to get a cup of joe. While waiting, the barrista, a young lady I'd never met before, asked, "Aren't you the guy at the airport?" Lost in my own thoughts, and being a little hard of hearing anyway, I asked, "What was that?". She said, "You're the guy who teaches girls to fly". Well, not really, I just encourage them to evaluate their options. But it was a nice, and very touching, mis-observation.

So, the 2008 Plane-Girls calendar is available now on our web-site. Proceeds go to support operations (fuel costs, Ouch!) and the Do Something fund which recognizes people who make a difference in the world. These things were developed by our young, wild girls, who don't quite fit the normal mold. My partner and the VP of the company is featured on the cover. We'd appreciate it if you'd stop by the site and spend some time with us. And if you encourage a young woman to look skyward and dream, then you'll be making aviation a better place. And please forgive the grammatical errors. Some were deliberate, some not. We're not GC (grammatically correct) nor PC (politically correct). We're a new generation of women who fly. Likely the world is coming to an end.

Doc
Crew Chief
www.Plane-Girls.com
"Well behaved women seldom make history"
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