snowfall started. The fact that the pressure had been met made affl the more irritating a note, delivered to Met by messenger, fifteen minutes ago. The note read: M thought slid warn u-airlines snow committee (on vern demerest's urging. . . why does your bro-in-law dislike you?) filing critical report becos runways & taxiways snow clearance (v. d. says) lousy, inefficient … report blames airport (meaning u) for main hunk of flight delays … also claims stuck 707 wouldn't have if taxiway plowed sooner, better. . . so now all airlines being penalized, etc, etc, you get the drift … and where are youin one? (drift, i mean) … climb out & buy me coffee soon.luv t The "t" was for Tanya-Tanya Livingston, passenger relations agent for Trans America , and a special friend of Mel's. Mel read the note again, as he usually did messages from Tanya, which became clearer the second time around. Tanya, whose job straddled troubleshooting and public relations, objected to capitals. ("Mel, doesn't it make sense? If we abolished capitals there'd be scads less trouble. Just look at the newspapers.") She had actually coerced a Trans America mechanic into chiseling all capitals from the typebars of her office typewriter. Someone higher up raised bob about that, Mel had heard, quoting the airline's rigid rule about willful damage to company property. Tanya had got away with it, though. She usually did. The Vern Demerest in the note was Captain Vernon Demerest, also of Trans America. As well as being one of the airline's more senior captains, Demerest was a militant campaigner for the Air Line Pilots Association, and, this season, a member of the Airlines Snow Committee at Lincoln International.
