A Memorable Dining Experience Aloft.

Back in the late 70s, I worked for the City of Honolulu. I was a member of the mayor’s cabinet and it was a high-profile job. Whenever we talk about those days, my wife invariably begins every anecdote by saying, “Well, when Jim was somebody … ”

Anyway, as one of the unofficial fringe benefits to the job, I was often upgraded when I had to travel on city business. Back then, I almost always flew either Pan American or Western Airlines. Both are now long gone, of course, but I particularly miss PanAm. At one point, at least in terms of service, PanAm was very simply the best.

Once, on a PanAm flight from Honolulu to San Francisco – it was in 1974 – I was upgraded to 1st class. An hour into the flight, after relaxing with a glass of excellent scotch, I was tapped on the shoulder by a flight attendant. “If you’re ready for dinner, Mr. Loomis,” she said, “we have a place reserved for you upstairs.”

I dutifully followed her to the upper level of the 747, where three tables had been prepared – two set with four places and one ready to seat two people – each with crisp white linen tablecloths and place settings of real china.

I was ushered to a table-for-four and, to my great surprise, found myself seated opposite former California governor Pat Brown and his wife. Their son, Jerry, had just been elected governor of California and they were returning from a trip to Asia to attend his inauguration. And there I was, a political junkie of the highest magnitude, discussing government and politics with Pat Brown over dinner and wine and an espresso at 35,000 feet. Imagine that!

By the way, the fourth person at the table was an executive with Levi Strauss on his way back from China. He had been looking into the wild idea that maybe the Chinese could make levi jeans cheaper than we could. Imagine that!