Who Is Packing Your Parachute

“Great men are rarely isolated mountain peaks; they are the summits of ranges.”

— Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Do you ever take the time to think about the fast food attendant that takes your order or delivers your meal? What about the postal worker or UPS driver that sorts and delivers the packages for you to conduct your daily business? What about the truck driver who delivers fuel to the service station so that you can fill up your car and go about your daily chores. I expect that you, like me, give little, if any, thought about these individuals.

In the daily grind of life we often fail to recognize all of the good that is done on our behalf. I heard this story once that helps me remember all those individuals who are on “my team” and help me accomplish my tasks.

This story is about a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam by the name of Charles Plumb. Plumb had completed 75 combat missions when he was shot down, ejected and parachuted into enemy hands, afterwards he spent six years in a Vietnamese prison. Fortunately he survived and today shares with groups the many lessons he learned.

One day while eating at a restaurant with his wife a man came up and said, "You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Charles Plumb in surprise and gratitude had to catch his breath. 
The man then shook his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him it had and said, "If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."
Charles Plumb is now a motivational speaker telling this story to hundreds. He always ask his audiences after telling it, "Who's packing your parachute?"
Charles Plumb is now a motivational speaker telling this story to hundreds. He always ask his audiences after telling it, "Who's packing your parachute?"

That night Plumb could not sleep. "I kept pondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform - a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers”, he said. “I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor", recalled Plumb.

Plumb thought a lot about that man who had packed his parachute and the hours he spent at a wooden table at the bottom of the ship carefully packing his and others chutes. He held in his hands the chute; the fate of someone he didn’t even know. 

In our life many people have a hand in our parachutes. Are we taking the time to acknowledge them, thank them, reward them? It is very easy to overlook the work of the many people we come in contact with each day. When an athletic team has won a championship do you ever hear them thank the trainer, the cook, the bus driver? Do they take the time to reward them too? It takes a lot of people to create a championship team, just as it takes a lot of people to make us successful each day.

We often notice those who aid in helping us be late, miss an appointment or negatively affect the outcome of a deal we are working. What about those who help us get it right? The next time you have the opportunity, thank those who are doing a good job. Reward them. Let them know you notice and appreciate them. I know you will be glad you did and our community will be better off because of it.

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* This article was originally printed in the Sunday, February 23, 2014 issue

of The Chronicle's"Planting Seeds" column.