Sailing Past Ike

Phil Sorsky flew in from London and went sailing the next day with his friend David on Willoughby Bay and the James River. We cruised past the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, under repairs at Norfolk Naval Base.

Phil is an executive with a worldwide company that builds telecom towers. “We are based in Great Britain and have people working in Chile, India, China, all over. I was in charge of a big training exercise and decided that since I travel so much I should have this one at home, in my little town outside London.

“The head of the training component was from Texas. I asked if we could take an hour off one day for something special and he refused. ‘The schedule is very tight, and we can’t afford the time.’ I kept pushing and he wouldn’t budge. Finally he said, ‘I wouldn’t give up an hour except for the queen.’ I smiled.

“By sheer coincidence, Queen Elizabeth II was coming to our little town to visit. On the appointed day at the appointed hour, we broke training and went outside for a surprise. All we had to do was walk to the corner. We waited a few minutes and here she comes. Everyone waved, and the queen waved back, and we went back to training. I think the whole thing took 30 minutes. Our people had assembled from all over the world, and they got to see the queen.”

We sailed along the James, contemplating other coincidences in our lives. That one was the best of the day.

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