George Rebane

Two men sitting next to each other on an airliner started talking in glowing terms about their home towns.  One was regaling about the history and sights of Philadelphia and the other about the culture and cuisine of New Orleans.  The Philadelphia man was a bit skeptical, and asked his New Orleans fellow about the high crime rate in his city.  The New Orleans man pooh-poohed the reports and said they were overblown.  Finally they started talking about their jobs and Philadelphia asked New Orleans how he earned his living.  To which New Orleans enthusiastically replied, ‘Oh, I have a great job with good benefits.  I’m the tail-gunner on a Budweiser truck.’

This story has been making the rounds and drawing knowing chortles for some years now.  And then yesterday farce turned into fact with the front-page picture of the guy whose job really was tail-gunner in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.  Modern times creating new jobs.