Please Forgive Us This Non-PC, Highly Comedic Moment

Patch was going through its photo archive recently, the really old one where the pictures are on shiny paper you can actually feel, and came across a picture taken of a National Guard helicopter pilot we encountered while assigned to cover a story during an earlier life long, long ago.

This particular guy was a Chinook driver, a Vietnam vet with a virile mustache so formidable it looked like he could suspend paint cans from the tips, and he was seeking comfort in a NorCal saloon after making air drops and bringing in equipment to flood-ravaged residents in the North Bay.

He was still in his flight suit and very tipsy when we ran into him. "Aren't you flying tomorrow, Ace?" we asked.

A nod.

"Should you be drinking?"

A shrug. "Why not?"

"Well, because of the weather, the downdrafts, the power poles..."

"That's why I need a drink," Ace said, knocking back another, "because of the weather, the downdrafts and the power poles..."

Different breed and a different time, but as recent headlines have told us the practice is still alive among some of those who make their living flying other folks around. Foster Brooks -- a reformed drinker himself -- cracked up Dean Martin while playing the part. Take his act for what it is, hopefully it will make you laugh as much as we did.