A.C. Air Show Is Jet Fuel Money Well Spent

The Atlantic City Air Show, “Thunder Over the Boardwalk,” will take place next week on Wednesday, the 17th. The day before, the participating planes will put in a full day practicing their maneuvers. I will be incommunicado both days. Won’t answer the phone or the doorbell. Not making lunch either day. I will run like hell when I need a bathroom break so as not to miss a single airplane. I absolutely love the A.C. air show. To me, it is amazing to see the precision and power that these airplanes display. And they’re manned by kids—young men and women who enjoy the thrill of flying multimillion-dollar craft at breathtaking speeds. Personally, I find practice day to be the more thrilling day to watch. I suppose in an effort to conserve jet fuel, they will fly closer to the ground and closer in to the beach. The planes literally will buzz my rooftop all day.

Every year, just around now, the naysayers will start yapping and complaining about the prudence of putting on the show in these hard economic times. The jet fuel expense is astronomical; the expenditure would put my kid through the next couple years of college. “It’s wasteful spending!” people complain. But here’s the reality: I am sick and tired of hearing about debt ceilings and loan default, runaway spending and the need for increased taxes. Chicken Little has been crying for years now, and I’m weary of it. I’m tired of the rich saying, “I made my money fair and square. Don’t burden me with this debt!” Meanwhile, the poor say, “I depend on social services. Don’t look to me for the answer!” The old say, “Leave my entitlement programs alone!” Big corporations protect their loopholes, middle-income families and small businesses protect their tax structure, and the youth cry foul at having to shoulder astronomical debt for generations to come. And the majority of the voting public has no skin in the game at all. Don’t look to them for a solution. Nope, everyone has their arms wrapped tightly around their piece of the pie.

So, my addition to this chorus is to leave my air show alone. The military says that an air show promotes a positive opinion of the armed services and increases recruitment. No studies have been done to validate this claim but I don’t care. I like the air show. Cut spending somewhere else. If you want to debate this with me, give me a call, just don’t do it on August 16th or 17th. I won’t be answering the phone.