Acknowledging The Not So Obvious

There will be many times in our lives when we make judgments about other people’s behavior. Today’s article is about a true and extraordinary event that many people don’t know about. The story is a shining example of being careful about judgments and how one might learn to be cautious with our older folks until you know them better. You never know what older people have done for you over the course of their lives.

The story comes from Max Lucado's fantastic book entitled The Eye of the Storm. I've shortened the story to fit into this article. 

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the dock, where he almost has the world for himself. Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky, a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier. Now, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, “Thank you. Thank you.”

In a few short minutes, the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave. He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place. When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like a 'funny old duck,' as my dad used to say. Or, to onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp. Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of others. Most would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida. That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.

His full name is Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and then he was in World War II. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, the men survived the crash, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.

Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought off sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day, their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land, and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive. Every day across America, millions wondered and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive.

The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon, they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. Then they tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose as time dragged on. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft. Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, Eddie managed to grab the bird and wring its neck. He and his starving crew made a meal of it - a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait. They caught fish, which gave them food and more bait, and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they endured the rigors of the sea for 24 days until they were found and rescued.

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull. And he never stopped saying, “Thank you.” That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

PS: Eddie Rickenbacker founded Eastern Airlines. Before WWI, he was a racecar driver. In WWI, Eddie was a pilot and became America's first ace. During WWII, he served as a combat instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with combat pilots. And now you know another story about the trials and sacrifices those brave men and women have endured for your freedom.

Do you see that 'old man with a bucket of shrimp' type that you know? Don't marginalize them. Listen to their story. And above all, thank them. After all, you’re sitting on their shoulders.