Air Traffic Controllers In Canada Sent Hundred Of Pizzas To Their U.S. Colleagues Who Are Working Without Pay While The Government Is Shut Down

CNN- Canadian air traffic controllers have been sending more than just radio signals across the border this weekend. They ordered hundreds of pizzas for their American counterparts working without pay due to the ongoing US government shutdown. Peter Duffey, president of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, said the controllers were looking for a way to help the American controllers as they faced their first payday with no pay on Friday. On Thursday, one of CATCA’s control centers in Edmonton, Alberta, had the idea of sending pizzas to the controllers in Anchorage, Alaska. The units are so close that they regularly interact and the Canadian controllers thought it would be a nice gesture of solidarity. The idea took hold, and other units along the border sent pizza to the controllers with whom they share airspace. But now, Duffey said, units have been randomly selecting other units to send pizza to, sometimes based on similarities they think they share. Fort McMurray, for example, a unit in Alberta, chose to buy pizzas for a unit in El Paso, Texas, because it is also an oil town. Since Thursday, more than 350 pizzas have been sent to 49 FAA units across the United States and Duffey said the number is likely to grow.

Air traffic controllers in the United States have been working without pay since the partial government shutdown began on December 22. They are considered essential employees within the US Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA released a statement on Twitter on December 22, saying, “Air traffic control is fully operational and there is no impact to safety or FAA oversight for travelers.”

Alright, enough is enough. Tell Trumpy Bear, the democrats, and everyone else in Washington D.C. to get their asses together and reopen the fucking government, wall funding be damned. Yes this was a very nice gesture by our neighbors to the North and if anybody on the planet deserves a free meal, it’s air traffic controllers showing up to their job without a paycheck on the way as they do the low-stress job of making sure planes don’t collide in mid-air like Jane’s dad in Breaking Bad.

But you can’t have American citizens accepting a pizza pity party from Canadians. You just can’t. What would George Washington say if he saw this going on? Well his brain would probably explode as he watched planes fly through the air and he would likely fall asleep after eating a pie of pizza all by himself because it was the first time he tasted the greatest food mankind has ever created. But still, GW didn’t create the best country on God’s green earth so he could accept handouts from beaver-skin wearing canucks (his words, not mine). He did it so we could flex on other countries around the globe by doing nice gestures like this. Now U.S. air traffic controllers are going to feel like the kid that had to eat over his friend’s house because his parents were too busy arguing to remember to put food on the table and now they are going to feel like they owe the Canadians something. And while I can’t really tell what’s on some of those pizzas, I don’t think I would trust a Canadian to choose what toppings would go on my pizza. I can definitely see some veggies along with what I bet are lots of smoked meats that have some sort of maple flavor to them. If I am going to be in debt to someone for a free meal, let it be a cheese pie or your basic toppings on a pizza (pepperoni, chicken, meat lovers, etc.), not some crazy Canadian concoction. Sorrey if this offends.