You've Come A Long Way Toots

I caught Wait Wait Don't Tell Me this Sunday on NPR, as usual. The guest was Fannie Flagg, best known as the author of Fried Green Tomatoes. In the course of the show they discussed her early work as a writer and performer on Alen Funt's "Candid Camera." I had never heard of this, but apparently she was in a set up where the "gag" was that she was the pilot of a commercial airplane. A female! Crazy right? I mean, you wouldn't let one drive your car, much less fly you thousands of feet in the air. They might get scared or hysterical!

Anyway, thanks to the magic of the internets, here it is:



It's pretty amazing that not too long ago, the idea that a woman might be the pilot of a plane was so crazy and outlandish that it was used to provoke funny and alarmed repsonses from passengers and crew. The idea that Ms. Flagg could well have cast her primary ballot for a woman to be the Democratic nominee for president seems pretty incredible when you watch this.