He goes by “George,” his call sign from his flying days. He spent about 38 years flying F-15s, scrambling to intercept foreign aircraft approaching Japanese airspace before retiring at around 55. Now he works behind a coffee shop counter. He has earned a Customer Service Award badge, comfortably serves customers from overseas, and hopes to keep working until he is 90. He says the situational awareness he developed in the cockpit helps him understand what customers need. As a pilot, he had to monitor multiple instruments, assess situations quickly, and anticipate what would happen next. He draws on those same skills at the register. When he started, he didn’t even know what a Frappuccino was! He credits his success in a new field to what he calls “human power”: his people skills, his attitude toward work, and his care for customers. His much younger co-workers admire him, too. 🥰

職場でも家庭でも、相手の小さな失敗にどう応じるかで、その後の協力が変わります。月へ向かった４人の宇宙飛行士も、互いの苦手なことやストレスのきっかけを知るために、時間をかけて話し合いました。狭い船内で支え合う関係を、地上でつくっていたのです。