As Americans enter the fourth week of President Donald Trump’s government shutdown, a lot of federal employees are working without pay to keep the country going – unlike POTUS.
Around 800,000 federal employees have been working without pay since December 22, from firefighters, detectives, and correctional officers, to accountants, clerks, and janitors.
Among them are air traffic controllers, who are left doing their Very Important Job of making sure planes don’t crash headfirst into one another in the sky, without seeing a pay cheque.
Right on cue, Canada has stepped in to ease the burden in truly wonderful Canadian fashion.
The air traffic controllers of the New York Air Traffic Control Center, received a tasty symbol of solidarity from their colleagues across the Canadian border.
I'm extremely grateful of @CATCA5454 for the extremely kind gesture of buying us pizza while our own government isn't paying us. I might have to cheer for a Canadian hockey team (as long as they aren't playing the Coyotes 🤣) #ThankYou #Day21 pic.twitter.com/d6IYBWbGdz
— 🏳️🌈Call Me Myke🇺🇸 (@jimmyphx) January 12, 2019
According to a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canadian air traffic controllers from the Atlantic province towns of Gander and Moncton wanted to reach out to their under-appreciated pals working at the control centre in Ronkonkoma, Long Island.
So, they ordered pizzas to be delivered to the hard-working crew.
According to CBC, a variety of 32 ‘pies’ – which in the Olde English translation means pizzas, apparently – were delivered to the air traffic controllers who were having some difficulties due to the shutdown.
The arrival of the pizzas, perfectly timed for those 6pm hunger pangs, was announced by a cute print-out posted in the hallway of the centre.
The pizzas were courtesy of the Canadian Air Traffic Controller Association (CATCA):
Thank you to @CATCA5454 for your generosity! We all appreciate you standing side by side with us. The Air Traffic Family world wide is amazing. pic.twitter.com/bwI69MPZWy
— Joseph lanzetta (@TinPusher688) January 12, 2019
What better way to show colleagues you care than with Pizza Friday’s, hey?
An image of the notice was posted to Reddit by David Lombardo, a former air traffic controller at the Long Island centre who goes by u/PlatinumAero, and was posted by other employees on Twitter.
Lombardo wrote:
Hey Canada, THANK YOU!!!!!! This was in the hallway of New York Center (ZNY) today. [sic]
Canadian air traffic controllers bought dinner for FAA air traffic controllers last night (all over the country) in an effort to show their support during the US government shutdown.
According to other Redditors, the kind gesture has been confirmed to having been replicated the country over and made possible by donations from controllers themselves.
Lomabrdo confirmed what u/dudleyjack2 wrote:
My daughter in law is an ATC. Apparently, all the Canadian ATC centres are buying pizza for their adjacent FAA centres
Another user, ‘u/powerdatc’ chimed in to share the love of pizza and the ATC stateside family:
A bunch of towers bought for associated towers as well. That I know of, Halifax bought for Boston, Montreal for La Guardia and Burlington, Toronto for Newark and I think at least one other, Calgary for San Fran and possibly others, Vancouver (my unit) for Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, LAX, and Boeing Field with potentially another two depending on funding (these are via donations from controllers).
This is adorable.
Hey, who said a bit of a cheesy display of appreciation isn’t in order when the government seems intent on watching the country, currently being held up by hard-working citizens, burn?
Hurray!
If you have a story you want to tell, share it with UNILAD via [email protected].
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.