Frankly Speaking Sometime in 1983 or early 1984
Frankly Speaking
Sometime in 1983 or early 1984
I left home early that Thursday morning. I took a limo from our home in San Jose to the San Francisco airport. You see, I’m sure about the day of the week because my business trips to this part of the world purposely always began on Thursday. Because of the 11-12 hour time difference and the 20+ hours of travel involved I would be ready to begin business on Saturday morning.
I boarded a non-stop flight from San Francisco to New York’s JFK. At JFK I had a 5 hour lay over that allowed me the opportunity to stretch the legs and get a decent meal. After this pause I boarded another flight bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates with intermediate stops in Frankfurt, Germany and Doha, Qatar. It was one long trip on the same aircraft and I think you would agree the opportunity to stretch the legs in New York was warranted.
All in all, the trip was uneventful. The only notable incident on the flight involved an Arab man who was intent on fulfilling his obligation to pray as mandated by the rules of Islam. He unfurled his prayer rug in the middle of the aisle of business class and proceeded to do his duty. He was prepared. His rug included a compass so it could be properly positioned facing east. As the aircraft flew over central Europe the man went about offering up his prayers. As he prayed the aircraft made an adjustment in its heading, the Arab man adjusted his prayer rug and continued his ritual. Once again he knelt on the rug and returned to his prayers. The aircraft adjusted its heading again! Once again the man adjusted his prayer rug and returned to his obligatory prayers. He accepted these adjustments as a matter of fact and finished his prayers unflustered by the circumstances.
Finally the flight landed in Dubai! It was late afternoon on Friday and I had been traveling non stop for 22 of so hours. As I de-planed I noticed that the military/police at the bottom of the boarding stairs had the wickedest looking machine guns I had ever seen. After clearing customs and immigration I sat out to catch a taxicab to the Intercontinental Hotel. Well, cab drivers in the UAE aren’t much different than cab drivers here. You could see the hotel from the front of the airport and those taxi drivers weren’t interested in a small fare. But, like here, money talks and I was able to make my way to the hotel.
It was about 6:30pm when I got to the reception desk. I was anxious to get checked in, get to my room, take a needed shower, go get some food and get back for the night. As I completed the check-in process with the desk agent a black man began a discussion with another of the desk clerks. Simultaneously we both completed our business at the desk and began walking down the hall leading to the ground floor rooms. My bags would be delivered to the room by a bell hop so I had only my briefcase to carry. The black man and I moved on down the aisle, side by side, without acknowledging one another. Another black man emerged from a room down the hall and moved toward us. As he neared us this guy got my attention. He was looking as though he knew the other man I was sharing the hall with. As he approached he simply said, “Hey champ, how ya doin?”
That got my attention! I was so tired that I didn’t realize the man standing next to me and joining me in my traverse down the hall was none other than Mohammed Ali! And the second black man was Jimmy Ellis. They were in Dubai putting on a boxing exhibition to support underprivileged Muslim youth. We did not speak. I was in absolute shock. I had traveled half way around the world to stand next to “The Champ.” Wow!
And like a fool I didn’t take advantage of the meeting! At least I spoke to Jimmy Ellis at lunch the next day. Just like here, Ali was being hounded by the press if he left his room.
Sometime in 1983 or early 1984
I left home early that Thursday morning. I took a limo from our home in San Jose to the San Francisco airport. You see, I’m sure about the day of the week because my business trips to this part of the world purposely always began on Thursday. Because of the 11-12 hour time difference and the 20+ hours of travel involved I would be ready to begin business on Saturday morning.
I boarded a non-stop flight from San Francisco to New York’s JFK. At JFK I had a 5 hour lay over that allowed me the opportunity to stretch the legs and get a decent meal. After this pause I boarded another flight bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates with intermediate stops in Frankfurt, Germany and Doha, Qatar. It was one long trip on the same aircraft and I think you would agree the opportunity to stretch the legs in New York was warranted.
All in all, the trip was uneventful. The only notable incident on the flight involved an Arab man who was intent on fulfilling his obligation to pray as mandated by the rules of Islam. He unfurled his prayer rug in the middle of the aisle of business class and proceeded to do his duty. He was prepared. His rug included a compass so it could be properly positioned facing east. As the aircraft flew over central Europe the man went about offering up his prayers. As he prayed the aircraft made an adjustment in its heading, the Arab man adjusted his prayer rug and continued his ritual. Once again he knelt on the rug and returned to his prayers. The aircraft adjusted its heading again! Once again the man adjusted his prayer rug and returned to his obligatory prayers. He accepted these adjustments as a matter of fact and finished his prayers unflustered by the circumstances.
Finally the flight landed in Dubai! It was late afternoon on Friday and I had been traveling non stop for 22 of so hours. As I de-planed I noticed that the military/police at the bottom of the boarding stairs had the wickedest looking machine guns I had ever seen. After clearing customs and immigration I sat out to catch a taxicab to the Intercontinental Hotel. Well, cab drivers in the UAE aren’t much different than cab drivers here. You could see the hotel from the front of the airport and those taxi drivers weren’t interested in a small fare. But, like here, money talks and I was able to make my way to the hotel.
It was about 6:30pm when I got to the reception desk. I was anxious to get checked in, get to my room, take a needed shower, go get some food and get back for the night. As I completed the check-in process with the desk agent a black man began a discussion with another of the desk clerks. Simultaneously we both completed our business at the desk and began walking down the hall leading to the ground floor rooms. My bags would be delivered to the room by a bell hop so I had only my briefcase to carry. The black man and I moved on down the aisle, side by side, without acknowledging one another. Another black man emerged from a room down the hall and moved toward us. As he neared us this guy got my attention. He was looking as though he knew the other man I was sharing the hall with. As he approached he simply said, “Hey champ, how ya doin?”
That got my attention! I was so tired that I didn’t realize the man standing next to me and joining me in my traverse down the hall was none other than Mohammed Ali! And the second black man was Jimmy Ellis. They were in Dubai putting on a boxing exhibition to support underprivileged Muslim youth. We did not speak. I was in absolute shock. I had traveled half way around the world to stand next to “The Champ.” Wow!
And like a fool I didn’t take advantage of the meeting! At least I spoke to Jimmy Ellis at lunch the next day. Just like here, Ali was being hounded by the press if he left his room.
posted by Frank at 12:29 PM
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