This 9/11 post took a “Milkshake Duck” turn

Part 1 of a series of tweets by Bill Ellmore (@BillEllmore):

I was booked on United Flight 93 on 9/11, 2001, flying nonstop from Newark NJ to San Francisco CA. Around midnight the night before, a coworker called me urging me to change my flight to fly into San Jose instead. This meant I had to give up my 1st class seat and move to a flight that left 20 minutes later (from the same gate) with a stopover in Denver. I was very reluctant but I did it.

When I got to the airport, I watched people boarding flight 93 and I was upset that I was not leaving earlier, in my 1st class seat on a direct flight. I didn’t notice or care about the people as they were boarding, only myself.

When I finally boarded my plane, we were 7 planes behind flight 93. When we were 3 plans away from we taking off, the pilot told us to look out the right side of the plane because it appeared the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane. I thought it might have been a small Cessna until I saw the second plane strike the other tower.

We were grounded just before taking off. I changed that day. I now take every opportunity to get watch and if possible, get to know the people I’m boarding a plane with. I never hesitate to give up my seat for a later flight if requested. I’ve had two children since 9/11 and went to multiple mission trips to war torn countries. Every day I wake up breathing is another gift from God.

Never forget 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 — Tap here to view the original post

Okay, so far so good…

Part 2 of a series of tweets by Bill Ellmore (@BillEllmore):

The reason my coworker told me to change my flight was she took the same flight on 9/10 and the commute from San Francisco to Mountain View would make me late for my meeting whereas traveling from San Jose to Mountain View would be faster in the morning. — Tap here to view the original post.

All right…

Response tweet from Mark Davis (@MarkDavis8919):

she saved your life with advice, which you followed.

what ever happened to your coworker?

Response from Bill Ellmore:

Sad to say, I ultimately had to fire her for poor performance. It was difficult — Tap here to view the original post.

Wait…what?

Response tweet from “Sourdeath Sam” (@SourdeathSam):

Bro coulda just said “she is working elsewhere now but I wish her well”

Response from Bill Ellmore:

Sorry for being honest — Tap here to view the original post.

I hope he extended her a little extra understanding for providing some life-saving advice, but there may have come a point where dismissing her (and ideally with a generous severance package) would have been fair.

Still, a response like the one “Sourdeath Sam” suggested would’ve been far better. Bill’s response to Sam’s suggestion is a poor excuse — “I’m just being honest” often really means “I’m a dickhead, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Milkshake duck?

Watercolor-and-ink Illustration of a duck drinking a milkshake through a straw.

The term milkshake duck is internet slang for something or someone that achieves internet stardom or “viral” status and public adoration and endearment, and then soon after, some terrible fact about them comes to light.

It comes from this classic tweet/post from The Site Formerly Known as Twitter:

Tweet by @pixelatedboat:

The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely duck that drinks milkshakes! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is racist — Tap here to view the original post.

For more about milkshake ducks — including some examples — consult the Milkshake Duck entry of Know Your Meme.

Milkshake duck?

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