Ever Caught With Your Zipper Down?

My job as a cargo pilot requires me to operate mostly at night and sometimes to sit for long periods of time at night with not much to do to keep me occupied. So, here I sit at 2 am wondering what I can find to amuse myself with until 4 am and I can return to the hotel, finally fall asleep and surrender that insistent tug on my eyelids!

Anyways, at some point this night I found myself requiring the use of the facilities (potty). No need to bore you with the details of my trip the lavatory, needless to say, as I left the facilities, I realized that I have become almost obsessive/compulsive about making sure that my zipper is up (and that there is no toilet paper on my shoe). I check myself not only once but twice and even three times as I leave the lav. It happened to me once before a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (black pants with super white underware on, almost as if I was waving a flag that said look here, look here...) and I was mortally embarrassed! I vowed that it would NEVER happen again and to this day I am happy to report that my zipper has never been caught down! Yet!

Getting back to my point, as I was realizing this OCD of mine, I happened to remember a Captain of mine, whom I had recently met, had failed to close his zipper. Now, I did not ask to notice this minor detail, but notice it, I did. So there I was, too stunned to even blush! The only thing on my mind was: What do I do? Do I say someting witty and humorous to notify him of faux pas? Or just a brief notification? Do I say nothing, as I am already too embarrassed to think of anything witty to say? Not to mention that this is my Captain, my boss, and I had only just met him for the first time. I was simply paralized there trying to think of what to say to my Superior Officer so as to not embarrass the both of us. What do I do?

In the end, I did nothing. I waited too long and the moment was gone. (Someone did eventually tell him or he discovered it on his own) I have thought about this little incident since it happened and was reminded of it again tonight. I felt a little guilty about not telling him, but I found that I did not have the fortitude to tell him. Why?

I would like to think that if it had been one of my friends, I would not hesitate to inform him or her that their barn door was still open. But I hesitated with a person I had just met and was essentially my boss. I think that he would have liked to have been told right away. I was his First Officer and one of our duties is to watch out for the Captain (of course that usually pertains to making sure he does not run into other airplanes etc...). So why did I find it so hard to tell him? Why would it make a difference whether or not I knew him as a friend? Why would I be more comfortable telling a friend some embarrassing personal thing like that?

I believe that I was simply too embarrassed for the both of us that I was rendered a useless tongue-twisted First Officer. An embarrasment, I believe, that stemmed from my own traumatic experience. I also now realize that 'personal' is a key word. I was responsible for telling him something rather personal. I was afraid that I would be admitting to him that I had 'glanced' there. I was embarrassed by the taboos our society holds as law. Deep down I was afraid of what he might think about me looking there. People are not supposed to look There! Well, it was not as if I was deliberately checking out his package. I was in the process of glancing down at my shoe because I thought it was untied... And there it was, clear as day! A blind man could not have missed it. (Well he would have had to utilize other methods to 'see' it, and then I would think he would be worried about what people would think about him 'checking'out the Captain's package) I realize now why it would be easier to tell a friend rather than a stranger. It is easier to loosen the bonds of Societal Law when around friends. They know, that you know, that they know, that you know, you weren't checking out his goods, it was merely and innocent glance. Even if it wasn't, your friends know you and understand you (to some degree) and accept you for who you are. You really don't have to worry about what they think of you!

Anyways, I just shied away, pretending that nothing was wrong. I can now say that I am more embarrassed by the fact that I did nothing. I firmly believe that standing by and doing nothing is very wrong. And yet I did just that, nothing. Why was I so 'wrapped around the axle' by societal taboo's? I should have been strong enough to break through those taboos and just blurt it out! "Hey Buddy, X,Y,Z" (examine your zipper) and simply moved on with my life!

Unfortuately I failed in my mission and so I am here to tell you, be brave and don't let a fellow human being down! Don't be embarrassed, just let them know, 'hey your zipper is down'!