Puerto Rico
Photo Courtesy of Illinois Institute of Technology
My first trip to Puerto Rico wasn’t a leisurely one. It was after the destruction caused by Hurricane Hugo 1989. We flew in two times a day, every day for about a month.
I remember being a young Marine at the time and I made my only mistake my first day. One I will never forget. What did it teach me? Think ahead.
Normally after an eight hour flight, I would step off the plane and pour out the old coffee. As soon as I did, the Engineer yelled at me, “What are you doing?”
I said, “I’m getting rid of the old coffee.”
“And where are you going to get new coffee?”
It was at that moment that I realized my mistake. We were on relief missions to bring these people supplies and to take away pallets full of trash and debris. Why would we come to them for coffee? They needed all they could get.
I walked into the control center a little humbled. I asked if they had any coffee and they were more than willing to make me some. They made about ten pots from a Mr. Coffee coffee maker and it took about half an hour.
From their standpoint, we were helping them. From my standpoint, I was supposed to be helping them. That’s a humbling experience when the very people you are supposed to be rescuing are more than willing to give you what little they have to keep you happy.
I brought them about ten cans of coffee in my very next trip, which was later that day and I thanked them for helping me out earlier. That made me feel a little better.
So, that was my first experience in Puerto Rico. It got much better after that…
Photos Courtesy of Michael A. Grammatico
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 6:33 pm and is filed under 1989, Hurricane Hugo, Puerto Rico, travel.
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