Coffee-table height table, well worn, and surrounded by comfortable, slightly scruffy chairs. This is the kind of furniture that doesn’t mind if you have been working on an airplane, or refurbishing a WWII era hangar and then sit on the upholstery. Airport bums (APBs) are lounging around, talking airplanes, weather, airplanes, hangar gossip, and airplanes. And a Golden Retriever naps in the corner.
Bill, the owner of the dog, and Jerry, the aerobatic instructor, come bouncing in with everyone’s dinner orders (mostly burgers and one chicken and bacon sandwich, because the guy’s doc said, “Eat more white meat.”) “Hi guys! Food’s here!”
Bill sets his bag and drink carrier down on the table, and takes Goldie out for a moment. The rest of us pay Jerry and start sorting out burgers, fries, onion rings, and other stuff.* Food divided, we dive in.
Bill returns with Goldie. Goldie saunters over and looks at the table. “Not yet, girl,” Bill informs her. She backs away. He flops into an empty chair and grabs his burger. She turns to face him.
“Happy tail!” Jerry yelps. We grab everything off the coffee table as a strong, fluffy tail sweeps across the surface at a high rate of speed.
Ah, those were the days . . .
*For us, this was health food. A little later, I became quite an expert on which airport’s vending machines had the best selection, the healthiest stuff (not always a good thing), and the highest fat to chocolate ratio. Pilots and mechanics tend to be on the see-food diet. Or as one retired charter and corporate pilot phrased it, “If you are what you eat, I’m fast, cheap, and easy.”
Cat Rotator's Quarterly 
““Happy tail!” Jerry yelps. We grab everything off the coffee table as a strong, fluffy tail sweeps across the surface at a high rate of speed.”
Our current rescue, Sugar, is a pug mix, and one of the signs is her coiled up tail. However….. we suspect that there’s a yellow lab in the woodpile somewhere. That’s because when she’s excited, that tail un coils to about three times it’s prior length, and wags with roughly the same effect as an ankylosaur’s….. 😎
Watch out for the Thagomizer? 🙂
“Happy tail!”
LOL 😆
Fear the happy tail.
I really don’t mind the incentive to keep extraneous crap off of coffee tables and side tables.
But when your dog is big enough to start threatening the actual table and things near the edge of kitchen counters…
Love that!
Sounds like a few engineer’s house parties I’ve attended. And yeah, chips, salsa, burgers, and fries washed down with beer in good company, is a healthy dinner.
I needed some happy tail this morning. Thank you!
Happy Tail!! And a happy tale…..thank you so much for this story!
Aviators everywhere… Naval Aviation breakfast- A donut, a cup of coffee, and a cigarette. Kick the tires, light the fires, first one in the air is lead. Brief on Guard.
One of our cats is a very mixed breed. Seems to be, among other things, part mountain lion (especially at the vet), and part Labrador (mostly the tail).
Happy tail moments are definitely a thing.
Got the Sad Face as opposed to Happy Tail. A warm Golden Retriever head appear suddenly on my knee at Thanksgiving, just under the table, with the wistful look of “you suuure that’s not my turkey there?”
Is it bad that when I read the title I started channeling Roy Rogers and Dale Evans? “Happy Tails, to youuuuu, until we meet again…”