Start 'Em Young

I walked into the hospital this morning just ahead of a girl and her mom. The girl was maybe eight years old and was clearly enamored with The City that is Lex Vegas. She was awed by all the cars and tall buildings and kept pointing things out to her mother in an Eastern KY drawl that is not reproducible by those not from there. What really got her, though, was the helicopter.

The helipad is on the roof of the hospital (as opposed to in the cafeteria, I suppose) and is nine stories up from street level. It's a rather narrow part of the hospital, however, so people on the street can watch the helicopter take off and land. On this particular morning, the helicopter was on the landing pad with the engine on, but not moving.

This was particularly confusing for the girl. As we waited to cross the street, she watched and waited for it to move. She became increasing bothered when it did not move and insisted that it get to the point already and fly away. The light turned, we crossed the street, and as we got closer to it, she shouted the following to the helicopter pilot, nine stories up, in her Southern accent:

"IF YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE, TURN OFF YOUR ENGINE! SAVE THE EARTH!"

I turned around and gave her a high five. Then I high fived her mom.