Thought Of The Day: “Would The Pattern Have Been Full for Ghostrider if the Air Boss Wasn’t a Coffee Drinker?

“Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.” Remember that line from Top Gun? Both times Maverick does a flyby on the tower and, both times, the Air Boss spills his coffee. ”God Damn that guy!” We’re meant to think this is some pretty hot shit, but also that it really pisses people in authority off.

I was wondering today if the big deal wasn’t just really that the guy spilled his coffee. Like, maybe it wasn’t a matter of military policy or anything, or even safety. Maybe the air boss was just a real dick, and he just didn’t want to be all tied up with jet tracking at the same time he was dipping into a fresh cup of flavor country.

This reminds me of IT people and how when you make a request of them, you always get back some indirect, fairly unhelpful answer. I like to think that in those moments it’s just because you’ve interrupted their favorite beverage, and that their half-hearted answer is just a long way around saying, “Fuck you buddy. You’re on buzzing the Dew time.”