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Living the Dream in Paris
Glass exploded in my face as the deafening percussion pounded my ears. “GET DOWN! GET DOWN!” Brad screamed. “THEY’RE SHOOTING AT US!” I dove to the floor of the Mercedes, just as a big, hairy hand reached menacingly towards me. My fantastic dream had just turned into a living nightmare!
We were driving in the middle Paris, France, heading towards the huge international airshow there. The French presidential entourage was ahead of us, jamming traffic as far as the eye could see. It would take us forever to get through the gridlock. I found myself muttering under my breath at the delay, while praying for patience. The French military and Paris police were guiding the President of the Republic through the mess as quickly as they could. Once he was clear, the rest of us could finally follow.
I had been daydreaming of going to this airshow for a long time. Our aviation university had a booth and chalet booked there, and I was part of the team organizing our share of the massive event. We had rented several huge Mercedes Benz limos to haul all of our staff, as well as our printed material and other promotional items to the show. My vehicle had Mike and Brad in front, two burly air force veterans who had been doing the heavy lifting, while I rode in the back, jammed in with packages of brochures and lots of giveaway goodies.
