In the early 1980s, I worked at Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. I commuted 45 miles one way each day in heavy traffic, taking a total time of 11-12 hours per day from the time I left home until I arrived home from work. In addition, I traveled a great deal for the company, spending many hours on airplanes. Supporting my family and being a JW ... and the Elder routine ... and experiencing some depression, it is needless to say that I was often just plumb tuckered out.
One Day I fell asleep in the bathroom: I had just gotten back from the East coast on Sunday night, and arrived at work Monday morning ... very tired. I had also developed a small, temporary, but real fear of flying. I went into the bathroom, sat in the stall ... placed my head in my hands awaiting the body to relieve itself ...
On a plane trip: Just getting back from a trip to the Limerick Nuclear site in Pottstown, Pennsylvania ... we were landing at Oakland airport. We often flew in and out of Oakland because the airlines with discount fares scheduled more flights from there than from San Francisco International.
We had flown out over the Bay west of San Francisco, turned around and headed back into Oakland. But what was different was that the plane dropped altitude lower than I had ever experienced going over the Bay. We were flying on the south side of the Oakland-Bay bridge ... and we eventually dropped almost even with the traffic ... and it was then I knew something was seriously wrong ...
The plane banked some but we were still losing altitude ... and I saw the high rise office complexes in front of us ... and knew that something serious was going to happen ... then, it dawned on me I was going to die! I screamed, Oh, Jehovah!!! Help me please!!! Oh God, oh God, oh no!!! Oh Jehovah! ...
Just then ... I heard a loud banging, like the engines were cutting out ... or the plane breaking up ... I screamed more ... and the banging got louder. Suddenly, I heard a voice say, "Amazing, are you okay in there? What's going on! ... "
I woke up from my slumber ... feeling embarrassed I was in the stall, and had fallen asleep. ... Then my Supervisor asked me why I was yelling about Jehovah. ... I stalled by saying I was okay and that I would be out in a minute ...
After I came out, he was still there waiting for an explanation ... I sheepishly smiled, stunned, speechless ... how do you respond to a situation like this? Just then some more employees dropped in, and my Supervisor smiled back, and just said that he was glad that I was okay ...
Yes, I was okay ... but on that day, the name Jehovah nearly got me fired!