A FAMILIAR ODOR

EVERYONE NOTICES WHEN THE WIND CHANGES DIRECTION
WHAT’S IN THE AIR ISN’T ALWAYS PLEASANT!

Our senses are what bring us pleasure in life. Whether it is the joy we derive from a warm touch or seeing one of nature’s great works of art formed by millions of years of wind and weather and the erosion of time. Life is made more enjoyable by emotionally experiencing, tasting, seeing, hearing and touching the world around us.

Oh, and let’s don’t forget the one sense that brings all the other senses into focus; the smell and aroma of things. Who can forget how the first spring morning smells just after a light sprinkling of rain; the tulips and their light fragrance with the cleansed air that arrives just as the rain stops.

I love a well prepared meal from an exotic part of the world and can usually guess what country the food originated from just by the fine smell of it when I enter the restaurant or kitchen where the food is prepared. Memories come flooding in from my past vacations and experiences garnered from the aroma of each dish.

Yep, it’s the smell of things that causes us to remember our past and cherish the memory of the lives we have lived.

Smells can define our mood as well. Some smells can bring back unpleasant memories and periods of our lives. Other aromas remind us of sporting events or exciting experiences we might have had; whether it be little league football or baseball and the fresh cut grass or the perspiration from exerting one’s self in the pursuit of victory. We have all had these moments in our lives that we enjoyed and pleasant aromas can open the floodgates of our memories causing joy and happiness to filter back into our minds and lives.

Some smells cause other memories. At the SL International Airport there is a not so pleasant smell that most workers experience from time to time. When the wind shifts out of the North where the Great Salt Lake is located and the hard blow brings in a Northwest storm the lake can churn up and bring back the lingering smell of our past pioneer heritage. The Lake is so salty that everything that was dumped into it over the millennia is still pretty much there and quite pickled. The lake bottom gives up its smell during these times and it is not nice.

There is another smell that comes to the tarmac on occasion. A hundred years ago there was a pig farm close to the airport. The land has been reclaimed and turned into pasture acreage but every so often you can still smell the long since departed pigs. Some smells never go away no matter the work or weather. It is a uniquely disgusting experience to smell remnants of the distant past especially if it concerns pigs!

There is an attempt right now to repackage the same old product we have received in the way of pay and benefits. Richard Anderson and Human Resources under the tutelage of Mike Campbell have had their ‘cooks’ and ‘artisans’ retooling and reshaping the image of the lousy pay and benefits that we have experienced over the last decade. Don’t be fooled by how they have made things seem, look, feel and for that matter, taste!

The false visual image they have carefully constructed is nothing more than a façade analogous to cheap furniture with doors and drawers that don’t actually open or function. It is all designed to be pleasant to the eye but gives no real help or sustenance.

Long serving Delta employees have learned to lift up their noses to the changing winds and take a long hard pull of the true smell of what’s coming. The winds have finally changed direction and you will know the product they are peddling by the distinct aroma that is blowing in. Believe me my friends; it’s probably not tulips that you smell!