Happy Hour or Happy Birthday

More low level scud running today. I did one trip up the coast with a load of passengers, ALMOST got to the point of turning back, but we made it. The weather looked like it was clearing a little bit as the day went on so we decided to try a second trip taking two passengers and a load of stuff up to the usual place.

As we were fueling the plane I noticed my two passengers, a rough looking couple standing off by the edge of the apron with their backs turned with some suspicious beverages in their hands. It was obvious they were drinking alchohol, but were trying not to make it obvious. I went over and approached them about it. They seemed sober enough, but I told them sternly not to drink any more, otherwise they might get sick on the plane. There's also the concern that they may get a little too rowdy on the flight. I looked at their coat pockets, and it didn't seem like they had any other drinks stashed on them, so I figured they'd be fine and let it go at that. The woman mentioned that it was her birthday as an explanation for their drinking.

We took off and headed north, and most of the flight was fine. About 15 miles from landing, the women sitting in the back, who was probably twice my size, started to get a little louder and more boisterous. She kept leaning forward and shouting things to her husband upfront. As we got closer and closer to landing it became clearer that she had been drinking more since we took off. By the time I had landed and we were taxiing for the apron she was grabbing my seat and yelling at me to get my attention about something. She wanted to take off again or something, I don't know. Finally as I pulled off the runway I turned around and told her to "BE QUIET!", which worked long enough to taxi in and shut down. I was certainly glad we were on the ground. I shut the airplane down, and she was so drunk she couldn't even get out of the airplane on her own. Then the fiasco started. When she finally fell out of the airplane she was rambling and making a commotion. Next thing I know she chucks 3 empty plastic bottles out onto the ramp. Unloading the airplane would reveal one more empty. So much for listenning to the pilot's instructions...

Usually we give passengers the benefit of the doubt and settle the payment last, but on a hunch I figured I'd ask for payment BEFRORE I unloaded the airplane and gave them all their stuff. It turned out my hunch was right, because they only had the cash for less than half what they owed for the trip. She kept trying to give me a debit card to pay for the rest of the trip. What was I supposed to do with a debit card? The woman was stumbling around, almost falling over, and rambling on unintelligably. I did my best to keep her away from falling on the airplane while she was stumbling around. I was getting a little worried how I was going to manage the situation and get the rest of the money, and was glad when I saw two police trucks pull up. The passengers were known booze smugglers, so they had come to search the luggage, but I was also happy to have some support in dealing with this crazy lady.

4 cops walked up and asked how it was going. I rolled my eyes, motioned to the woman and mentioned she was a little drunk, and that she still owed me money. As all this was happenning the woman just got rowdier and rowdier, to the point where the cops finally gave up trying to reason with her and took her to put in the back of the truck, but she didn't want that, so she fought it. They got her over to the truck, but she was still struggling, so one officer gave her a final violent shove and slammed the door. I was a little taken aback by the shove, but I suppose she deserved it, there was no reasoning with her. It was agreed that one of the officer's would take her husband to the Northern Store to withdraw the rest of what they owed me, while the rest of us waited here. We sat around for a good 45 minutes waiting for them to return, and the entire time the woman in the back of the police truck was pounding on the tinted window, screaming and shouting, and apparently at one point took off all her clothes for some unknown reason, lol. What a joke.

Finally the husband and one officer made it back to the airport and I got the rest of what was owed, and it all ended well, for me at least. I only have less than 10 days before I go home, so I probably won't fly these people anywhere again, but if I do I'll certainly be more stern with them and more cautious that they don't have any drinks on them. Interfering with the crew of an aircraft, or disobeying orders from the Pilot-In-Command (in this example - don't have any more drinks) is actually a serious offense. I'm not entirely sure of the details however, but I could have probably pushed to the police a little more on the fact of the women's lack of obeying my specific instructions of not drinking anymore, but at the time I was just glad to be back on the ground. In hindsight I should have been more clear to the police about the sequence of events and push for charges. I didn't really think about that at the time, but if something like this happens again I'll certainly take it more seriously. I specifically told my passengers no more drinking for the exact reason of what happened, and I think there should be a zero tolerance level for it, especially with passengers in small aircraft when they're within reach of the flight crew.

In a way its a different world up here. Natives are very much treated like spoiled children, and many act like it. Kids somehow think its ok to regularly tamper with boats, or let them float away. Many adults abuse alchohol, the welfare system, and the healthcare system, and get away with it. The worst that happens when someone smuggles booze is to have it confiscated. Able bodied people spunge off government handouts because they're too lazy to find a job, and when one of them feels like going on a shopping trip down south all they have to do is claim they have a tummy ache and a medevac flight will pick them and a family member up and take them direct to the Kingston hospital. While the patient is treated for their "stomach ache", the family member gets to go hit up the shopping centers. At the end of the day, the patient miraculously feels better and they get their private medevac charter back home, courtesy of the government, via hard-working Canadians. Some people don't feel compelled to listen to the pilot's instructions about onboard drinking because its her birthday. When she throws a fit with the police, the worst that will happen is she's thrown in the drunk tank for a night, and the next day the world will continue as normal. Natives also get comprehensive free healthcare. They get dental work paid for, yet the general condition of the population's teeth here is the worst I've seen anywhere, and that includes the natives I've been with in the Venezuelan amazon jungle who still live in the stone age. Nor do they pay for medication, which is a good thing, because diabetes is a serious problem up here. Education is also paid for, for the very few that choose it. SPOILED CHILDREN. I do know some natives up here who do work hard, and take care of themselves, and those people I have the utmost respect for because they've broken the mold. I however also feel sorry for them in that they're associated with the majority who do in fact fit the native sterotype. I wonder how much better off Canada would be if we stopped treating natives with kid-gloves.