Street Level

Many, many years ago, an assistant city editor at the London Free Press (where I spent 25 years before discovering B.C.) found out I am terrified of heights.

Really terrified. Can't even go up a ladder terrified. Can't watch movies that show heights terrified.

Silly terrified.

This perverted little gem of a reporter, who probably taught me more about interviewing than many others I worked for while there, decided I was the perfect person to cover a poker run -- via small aircraft.

The idea was to go from airport to airport in the Southern Ontario region, pick up the cards, finish, play your hand, win prizes, have dinner, lots of fun.

My stomach still churns at the memory of it all.

The arrival of Pacific Coastal airline to Kamloops on Oct. 22 brought that incident back to mind. In addition to free food (a natural attractant for all reporters), there was this need to fly on the plane around the city for 15 minutes. Now normally, one of my co-workers would have had this assignment because, on Mondays, my world revolves around laying out the Wheels section of Kamloops This Week. But not this time.

Seems my co-worker is afraid of flying. So, being the daring role model I believe myself to be, off I went, camera in hand, nausea bag in plain sight.

It was horrible. It was like riding a bumping roller-coaster in 40-degree heat. It was truly awful. It was the kind of ride that makes you want to kiss the ground when you land.

But, notwithstanding this, the jubilation expressed by the many business people who attended the ceremonial lift-off of the first flight from Kamloops to Vancouver was palpable. And that makes it all worthwhile.

So, welcome to Kamloops, Pacific Coastal. It was fun, but I'll stick to the Coq, instead.

Posted by Dale at 8:12 p.m. Comments