We all have a few scary moments in life that we’ll never forget.
You know what I mean – a time when something is happening, or about to happen, and you know that the outcome could be really bad, and it’s happening so fast you don’t even have time to react. It’s almost like you’re watching a movie, and just waiting to see how it’s gonna end.
One moment like that for me was several years ago, when we lived up north. Winters in Maine can be pretty brutal, and part of that is that sometimes the roads can be icy and dangerous for driving.
I remember one day I was driving on a rural country road, just two lanes, and the weather conditions were not good. There was some snow, but I also knew that the road had patches of ice. So I was moving along pretty carefully.
Then I saw coming my direction was a small pickup truck. But he had already hit a big icy section and he was coming downhill toward me. And he was just spinning in circles. This guy had absolutely no control, just doing 360s as he came down this hill in my direction. And there really was nothing I could do either. I just figured “Ok, here we go, this is gonna happen I guess”. I wasn’t too concerned about getting injured because we weren’t going at high speeds – I just knew that a collision was about to happen.
But amazingly, as this truck finally reached me, he was somehow able to stay on his side of the road while he kept going in circles right past me. I watched in my rear view mirror as he eventually regained control, and we each went on our way. Just part of life when you live in a cold climate.
My guest today is Marsha. She had a moment kind of like that once. She looked up and saw headlights coming her direction. But it wasn’t a car coming at her. It was a plane.
If you’re in Monahans, Texas, go eat at Pappy’s BBQ – 1901 S Stockton Avenue.
Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:
https://WhatWasThatLike.com/207
Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.
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Episode transcript (download transcript PDF):
We all have a few scary moments in life that we’ll never forget.
You know what I mean – a time when something is happening, or about to happen, and you know that the outcome could be really bad, and it’s happening so fast you don’t even have time to react. It’s almost like you’re watching a movie, and just waiting to see how it’s gonna end.
One moment like that for me was several years ago, when we lived up north. Winters in Maine can be pretty brutal, and part of that is that sometimes the roads can be icy and dangerous for driving.
I remember one day I was driving on a rural country road, just two lanes, and the weather conditions were not good. There was some snow, but I also knew that the road had patches of ice. So I was moving along pretty carefully.
Then I saw coming my direction was a small pickup truck. But he had already hit a big icy section and he was coming downhill toward me. And he was just spinning in circles. This guy had absolutely no control, just doing 360s as he came down this hill in my direction. And there really was nothing I could do either. I just figured “Ok, here we go, this is gonna happen I guess”. I wasn’t too concerned about getting injured because we weren’t going at high speeds – I just knew that a collision was about to happen.
But amazingly, as this truck finally reached me, he was somehow able to stay on his side of the road while he kept going in circles right past me. I watched in my rear view mirror as he eventually regained control, and we each went on our way. Just part of life when you live in a cold climate.
My guest today is Marsha. She had a moment kind of like that once. She looked up and saw headlights coming her direction. But it wasn’t a car coming at her. It was a plane.
Scott
You live in Odessa, Texas. Have you always lived there?
Marsha
I have lived here for most of my life. I mean, this is my hometown. This is where I always end up at.
Scott
The situation at the time when this occurred, you were working two jobs. What were you doing?
Marsha
My primary job was I was a waitress at a small cafe here in Odessa and my second job was I worked at a boarding kennel for dogs. Basically, I worked seven days a week. On the days I didn’t work at the kennel, I was watching my granddaughters, picking them up from school, so just always busy, always on the go
Scott
Wow I bet you don’t have any hobbies. You don’t have time for it.
Marsha
No. Sleep. Sleep is my hobby.
Scott
Yeah, that’s a good one. And where were you living at the time?
Marsha
At the time, I was living in a camper that I had lived in for about five years – very small and it was very crowded, but it was okay.
Scott
And the diner where you worked, what was the name of it and can you just tell us about that?
Marsha
So it was called Dewey’s Breakfast Shop. It was just a small cafe that had been there for about 10 or 11 years. It was just a small place where everyone was a regular and I knew everyone. I knew them by name. I interacted with my customers as almost a friend rather than just a server. I knew all their family members, their friends, and co-workers. I really enjoyed my interactions with customers and built relationships outside of work with some of them, and I’ve really enjoyed that.
Scott
And how long have you worked there?
Marsha
I was almost there for six years right before the crash.
Scott
The name of it, you said, is Dewey’s Breakfast Shop. Did they only serve breakfast?
Marsha
No, we did breakfast and lunch. We did outside caterings and that was pretty much it.
Scott
And you knew everyone. It sounds kind of like Cheers.
Marsha
Yeah, exactly. Everyone knows your name.
Scott
And it also sounds kind of like a job where you pretty much know what to expect every day.
Marsha
Pretty much. It was a lot of repeat customers and the usual twist thrown in every day, never knowing what to expect sometimes.
Scott
Is Odessa like a tourist place? I mean, could you expect people sometimes to come in and you’ve never seen them before?
Marsha
We are in the oil fields of West Texas. It’s not a tourist place. There were always new people coming in, but it was mainly people who were here to work.
Scott
Okay. Was this a standalone building – the diner – or were there other businesses in the same building?
Marsha
No, it was just the restaurant.
Scott
What else is nearby? I thought I heard there was a mobile home park nearby or something.
Marsha
Yeah, there were other private residences in the area. There were other businesses. We were just directly across the street from a private airport, so we had a lot of traffic going through on our main road.
Scott
So you were used to seeing planes go overhead.
Marsha
Yeah, they were taking off all the time, landing all the time, it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Every day, we heard them.
Scott
Okay. Let’s talk about what happened on that day. What time did you go to work to prep for that day?
Marsha
Every morning, we would get there at 6.30 to set everything up for the day, make all the teas, get coffees ready, prep all the food, and just have everything ready to open the doors at 7. At that time, there were only three of us who worked there because it’s a small place. It was just me and our two cooks that were there. I had just turned around facing the front door to start walking to it to open it, and that’s when I saw the plane coming across the fence.
Scott
When you say coming across the fence, I mean, how high was the plane? Obviously, it was low if it hit the building.
Marsha
I mean, the fence was probably 6-10 feet tall – I’m not exactly sure. But normally, the planes take off further down the runway and they’re already higher up in the air, so it’s never been an issue.
Scott
So this was a plane that was taking off, not landing.
Marsha
Yes, it was taking off. And just from what I remember seeing, I turned around to walk to the front door because our front door faces directly to the end of the runway. I turned around and I just saw lights because it was still kind of dark at the time, and I just saw the lights and it was extremely loud. Basically, by the time I realized what was happening, the plane had already hit the building. It took half of our roof off. That’s when it crashed in the alley right behind us.
Scott
Obviously, when you saw those lights, you knew immediately it was a plane.
Marsha
I mean, it took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. I didn’t really have time to kind of process what I was seeing. Like I said, before I even realized it, it had already hit the building.
Scott
Yeah, when something like that is so unexpected, you really don’t have time to react.
Marsha
Exactly, yeah.
Scott
So what did you do immediately?
Marsha
By the time I realized what was happening and it hit the building– we have the front door and then we have our back door that’s over on the other side of the building – I took off running to that because I didn’t know if the plane was inside or I didn’t know what was happening. The two ladies were already in the kitchen. They didn’t see it. They just heard it when it hit the building and shook everything and the power went out immediately. We had bars on our back door that were still engaged and the ladies were just screaming because they couldn’t get them to open. So I ran over there and they were screaming, “Marsha, open the door!” I managed to get the door open and all 3 of us just took off running to one of the houses directly behind us where one of our employees lived.
Scott
What made you decide to run to that house? Just because that person lived there or you didn’t know what to do?
Marsha
Yeah, basically, I mean we just took off running. I didn’t know what to do. We just ran.
Scott
Did you see any parts of the plane or anything when you went out the back door?
Marsha
At that point, I mean, I didn’t notice any debris but, after the fact, we did notice that there were pieces of it in our drive-through area and our employee that lives directly behind us, one of the landing gear was in her backyard. But basically, I didn’t have time to notice anything at that moment when it hit our building. The landing gear is what hit our roof and ripped it off. One of the landing gears was on our roof with other pieces of the plane,
Scott
Meaning the wheels of the plane.
Marsha
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. The whole, like, landing gear assembly was on our roof. At that point, it went across the top of our roof and it crashed in the alley, probably almost a block away at the end of the alley on that street.
Scott
Could you see it?
Marsha
It burst into flames. By the time we got outside, it was already in flames. There was nothing that I could see at that moment because there were other houses and I couldn’t see anything at that point. So at that point, I did not go inside. The other employee, Naomi, she went inside to get her mother out. I stood outside. Because I still had my phone in my hand, I called 911 and reported everything and, immediately, after I got off of that phone call, I called the owner to let them know what just happened.
Scott
And there were a lot of people that called 911.
Marsha
Yes, apparently there were a lot.
Scott
Yes, and because people either heard it, or saw it, or saw the aftermath, or people just driving by even, could have seen it. I got a lot of 911 audio for this incident but, unfortunately, none of them were yours. That doesn’t make any sense to me but there were so many calls. I guess they have trouble keeping track of all of them. We’ll play some of that 911 audio here. And then for anyone that wants to listen, I will have all of those 911 calls for this plane crash at the end of this episode so that you can listen to that if you want to.
911 Operator
- What’s your emergency?
Male Caller 1
We just had a plane crash. I’m over here. A plane just crashed right in front of us.
911 Operator
Okay, where at?
Male Caller 1
I don’t know where I’m at. I’m up, the old airport right here. I’m up here by the old airport up 385 and Andrews.
911 Operator
What did it crash into?
Male Caller 1
It crashed into a house. Y’all need to get over here and (crosstalk). It hit a power line and everything. It’s smoking. It just took off from the airport.
911 Operator
Okay, from Schlemeyer Field?
Male Caller 1
Yeah. Yes. yeah,
911 Operator
Okay. What’s the phone number you’re calling from?
Male Caller 1
(Hidden information). Yeah, you gotta get over there, man.
911 Operator
Do you know the street of the house that it crashed into?
Male Caller 1
I’m trying to see right now. Yeah, it crashed. It hit a power line. Let me see, let me look on my map. Yeah, he just took off from the airport. Yeah, that’s crazy.
911 Operator
Help is on the way there, but I need to know exactly what it is that’s going on and that you see.
Male Caller 1
The plane is on fire. Y’all need to get over here.
(Crosstalk)
Male Caller 1
No, I can’t. I haven’t even drove up to it. I pulled up on the side of the road, but that’s it. That’s it. It’s bad. There’s black smoke everywhere. Trees and everything are gonna catch on fire.
911 Operator
Okay. All right. We have this in and we have help on the way. Okay, just stay away from the area.
Male Caller 1
I got it. I gotta call my home boy because it crashed kind of over there by his house. His office is right there.
911 Operator
Okay. All right. We have help on the way.
911 Operator
- What’s the address of your emergency?
Female Caller 2
We just saw a plane crash. I just watched the plane crash.
911 Operator
Where at?
Female Caller 2
On Yukon. Right by the fire station, right across from the fire station on Yukon. It hit a power line and it’s burning.
911 Operator
Okay. We have them out there, ma’am. We’re gonna get somebody out there. Do you know how many– it was just a plane?
Female Caller 2
It was just a small plane. It took off from the airport, hit a power line on the south side of Yukon, and it’s burning. It’s just black smoke. Literally across the flight station on Yukon.
911 Operator
Yes, ma’am. We’re going to get somebody out there. Thank you. Okay.
Scott
So you called The owner of the restaurant after that, what was that phone call like?
Marsha
I was very shaken up. I was crying. She could hardly understand what I was saying. I finally got it across to her what was going on. Of course, she just like, “I’m on my way.” At the time, that’s when I’m looking around and I see people running out of their houses and running away from everything. I just felt like I needed to run down there and see if I could do anything, and I took off running down towards the end of the street. Whenever I got down there, of course, everything’s on fire. I just remember watching it and immediately I was like, “There’s nothing that I can do.” Luckily, the fire department is right across the street from us, so they were there almost immediately. But still, I knew that there was nothing that I could do.
I stood there for a minute, just in shock. That’s when things started exploding and pieces were flying and I took off running back down the street towards the restaurant. I didn’t want to get hit with anything. So, yeah, I just ran back to the restaurant and pieces were exploding all the way down to the end of the block and falling into the restaurant parking lot. I was like, “I’m going to move my car.” Whenever I was going to go get my keys, all the fire trucks were there blocking everything in, so I couldn’t move anything. I just had this feeling like I got to go down there and see if I can help or do something. It was a very helpless feeling to stand there and watch it and know I can’t do anything.
Whenever I got back to the restaurant, at the parking lot, I was trying to call my kids. I tried to call my oldest son, but he didn’t answer because it’s early in the morning. He didn’t answer. So I called my other son and he didn’t answer. I really didn’t want to call my daughter because it was early in the morning for her. She was on vacation in Oregon, so I knew it was really early in the morning and she was actually getting on a plane to come back home to Texas that day, but I still called her and she answered. Basically, immediately, as soon as she heard my voice, she knew something was wrong.
Scott
Marsha’s daughter, Kaleigh.
Kaleigh
When she called me, I was on the West Coast, so I was two hours behind. So it was about 5 AM for me when she called. It was so early that I was very disoriented. But as soon as I answered her call, I knew that something was very wrong. She was very shaky and breathing like a shuddering breath and was still crying into the phone and was very panicked. It took about two minutes of the phone call trying to calm her down to explain what had happened, why she was calling so early. Even then, it was still hard to kind of understand what she was talking about. It was obvious that something very wrong had happened and she just kept repeating, “Oh my God, I watched them burn. Oh my God. I watched them burn” just over and over again. Just “A plane hit the building and I watched them burn.”
Marsha
I was in such shock and just, I guess, disbelief of what was going on. I just remember repeating myself over and over telling her, “It’s on fire. I know they’re dead. I know they’re gone.” I couldn’t breathe because I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, and she just kept telling me, “Mom, let’s calm down. Take a breath, calm down.” So she tried to help me calm down some. We were on the phone for a few minutes and my phone kept ringing. I had other friends calling me, other customers that were reaching out to me to try and find out what was going on.
Scott
Those regular customers that were calling– first of all, I think it’s kind of interesting that these customers had your cell phone number. I mean, this is like family, like you said.
Marsha
It really was, yeah.
Scott
How did they even know anything had happened? Were these people that were showing up for breakfast?
Marsha
No, by this time, the police had all the traffic blocked off, so nobody could get down there. Everyone could see the fire that was going on. They knew it was in our area and a lot of my customers did have my number. I had a lot of contacts. You use your contacts for anything, but I did have a lot of customers reach out to me, and other friends who were hearing about it, reaching out. And so, when I was on the phone with my daughter, I was like, “I gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta get off the phone.”
Scott
I can imagine there’s probably– and this is probably true in every city – I know it is here locally – there are local Facebook groups like “What’s happening in Odessa” and as soon as somebody posts something on there, especially with a picture, that just spreads immediately. Everybody knows.
Marsha
Yeah, immediately. And where we are located, there’s a fairly large, like, subdivision, so everybody’s like, “What’s going on? I see smoke. What’s happening?” So word travels fast.
Scott
Did you stick around? What about your co-workers – the other ladies?
Marsha
They were in the parking lot basically until they were able to leave. They were really shaken up. I met my co-worker, Naomi. She had her family out in the parking lot. Basically, everyone, they stayed there until the fire department kind of opened the road and they were able to leave. Both of them did leave. I don’t know where they went after that. I did stay. I stayed until about 5 o’clock that day. The owner showed up and. We knew we had to get everything out of there. There was no electricity, so we couldn’t just leave all of our food in there. We knew we had to get it out. I don’t know. I felt like I had to stay and help, so that’s what I did.
Scott
How quickly did the fire get put out?
Marsha
I believe it took them 30-45 minutes to get it put out. Obviously, there was a full tank of jet fuel on the plane, so it did burn for quite a while. The owners did have another restaurant in Monahans, so we just started loading up all of our perishable items and they ended up taking it over to their other store in Monahans. We had a full line of ready-made food. Basically, all that went in the trash because we didn’t know what else to do with it. Everything was covered in roofing insulation and dust and dirt, so it would not have been good to feed the public with that.
All the police and everything were coming up and asking what happened. Since I did witness the plane coming at the building, I was told that I would need to be interviewed by the FAA and that I couldn’t leave until I did that. So I knew I couldn’t leave and go anywhere until I’d done that interview. So we were just there trying to clean things up as best we could while we waited for that. I want to say that they finally showed up maybe around 11 or 12 o’clock at that time. I did the interview at that point. I could have left but I wasn’t going to leave the owners and just be like, “Okay, y’all take care of this.” This was my family, my home, and I’m not just going to walk out on that.
One of my regular customers who, over the years, had been really amazing and had done things to help me out in the past, they were one of the first ones to reach out. The wife, Jamie, called and was like, “Oh my God, are you okay? I’m going to come get you.” And I was like, “I can’t leave. You can’t get in here. All the roads are closed.” She’s like, “I’m coming to get you.” She did try to come down there but, of course, they turned her away because the roads were all blocked off. Anyways, later in the day, the husband, Ty, called me and he was like, “Let me bring you guys lunch” because he knew we were still there. I had been in communication with them off and on as I had time. So maybe around, I don’t know, 12.30 – 1.00 o’clock, he showed up – or both of them, the husband and wife – they showed up with a fajita tray. It was enough to feed many people, but there were only three of us. I just remember trying to clean off all the dust and insulation to sit down inside our destroyed restaurant and just sitting there eating fajitas, still in disbelief as to what was going on.
Scott
I’m just picturing that moment with no electricity. So it’s probably a little dark inside.
Marsha
Yes, it was dark and it was very hot because it was in August in West Texas. So it was probably 90-95 degrees that day. It was pretty hot inside.
Scott
And you’re sitting in your destroyed restaurant, eating fajitas with one of your regular customers. That’s got to just be a surreal moment.
Marsha
Yeah, it really was. The customers did not stay. They just dropped the food off with us. So it was just me and the owners, the husband and the wife, Liz and Ivan. We just sat there, ate lunch, and talked about, “What are we going to do? What’s going to happen?”
Scott
Did they have insurance to cover something like this?
Marsha
Yes, of course. They had property insurance and, right now, that’s what they are using to try and get things back up and running.
Scott
That rebuilds the building, but it doesn’t take care of you, right? I mean, you’re not going to be working for a little while.
Marsha
Well, we have been fortunate that their insurance has allowed them to continue to pay just our base pay.
Scott
Oh, nice. Okay.
Marsha
Yeah. So at this point, we are still getting paid – we don’t know how long for – so we have been fortunate in that aspect.
Scott
And as we record this happened, it happened in August, so it’s only about six months ago.
Marsha
Yes.
Scott
And just as an aside, you said sometime around this time, Facebook showed you a memory of something previous. What was that?
Marsha
On my Facebook memories, at that night, I saw a picture that I had shared where, on August 20th, I don’t remember if it was three or four years previous but there was another small plane crash at that airport that I had witnessed that day too, and I was just like, “What are the odds of that? “
Scott
How did you witness it? Was that crash just on the airport property?
Marsha
Yeah, it was just a small plane that was trying to land. They had some kind of issue. Nobody got hurt in that incident. I just remember walking by the front window of the restaurant and I saw fire out of the corner of my eye and I was like, “Oh, that’s not supposed to be there.”
Scott
I guess, when you work in a place and you have a view of an airport all the time, eventually, you’re going to see some stuff.
Marsha
Yeah, we didn’t see a lot of things, but I thought it was kind of odd. Both of them were on August 20th. I remember cracking a joke with the owner that day and was like, “Okay, well, August 20th apparently is crash day and I’m not working on August 20th anymore.”
Scott
You want to make sure you take that day off?
Marsha
Yeah. Yeah.
Scott
Did you ever find out what caused the plane crash?
Marsha
At this point, it’s still under investigation with the FAA. We don’t have any definitive information as to exactly what happened.
Scott
And we do know that there were two people in the plane.
Marsha
Yes, yeah.
Scott
And they unfortunately did not survive.
Marsha
No, they did not.
Scott
And of course, it was the leading local news story that night.
Marsha
Yes, of course it was. I mean, we’re a big area, but also a small town, I guess. So yeah, it was big news.
News Clip
Well, two people were killed and another was injured when a small plane crashed in an Odessa neighborhood. It happened yesterday morning and caught several homes and shops on fire. The two people on board did not survive the crash. Firefighters had to pull an injured woman from one of the homes. The cause of this crash is under investigation.
Scott
Here’s a really interesting part of the story. The couple who brought you lunch that day, you said they had helped you before. What happened earlier?
Marsha
They had been my customers the entire time I worked there. The year previous, I had an incident where I wrecked my truck coming back from Dallas and I didn’t have enough insurance to cover it. They showed up the next day and were like, “We’re gonna pay to fix your truck” because they knew that was my only form of transportation. They arranged to take it to one of their friends’ body shop mechanic, and they paid for it. It’s situations like that sometimes make you realize there are still some good people out there and that made me appreciate my customers, my job, and everything just a little bit more.
Scott
And obviously, they were regulars, they knew you, they knew the problems that you were having and I guess that act kind of covered some tips well into the future, huh?
Marsha
A little bit. Yeah. It basically enabled me to not have to struggle to try and find another car. Again, at that time, I picked my granddaughters up from school anywhere from three to four days a week and, of course, I’m working my second job. So, I definitely depended on my vehicle.
Scott
Yeah, you gotta have reliable transportation.
Marsha
Yes.
Scott
And these people were regulars at the restaurant. They called you that same night. What was that phone call?
Marsha
They called me later that night and it was the husband, Ty, who called me and he was like, “Look, we know you’re not going to be able to work for a while. We would love to have you come in and join our team. Whether it’s temporary or whether it’s a permanent change, we’re going to take care of you. So, whenever you’re ready, let us know. You can come to work with us.” They do valve repairs for natural gas compressors, so they do have a repair shop. This area is oil and gas, so it’s a very prominent industry here.
Scott
Okay, now I’m trying to think, you were a server at a diner, and you worked at a boarding kennel for dogs. What experience did you have with natural gas compressor valves?
Marsha
Absolutely none.
Scott
So they wanted you for you, not for your skills or experience.
Marsha
Yes. They had told me a few times in the past that they were considering trying to talk me into working with them because they came in so often, they knew how I worked and my personality, and the fact that I was dedicated to my job and took pride in what I did. Sometimes that’s hard to find.
Scott
It really is. And that part, you can’t really train. You can train people on how to do a job but just being a good person and an ethical worker and showing up on time and all of that, that comes with the person.
Marsha
Yeah, absolutely. And so at the time, they had also helped me another time after my accident. I eventually did have to buy a new car. I just had too many problems with it. So I just told myself, “You know what? Suck it up. Let’s do what we have to do.” That’s when I got my second job to help pay for this brand new car, which I had another customer who helped me get into that. He was a finance manager for one of the dealerships. Again, I used my customers and their connections and it was very beneficial at times. Anyway, I was at that point working 7 days a week and I had been working 7 days a week for 5 months straight. I was just burnt out and they, Ty and Jamie, could see that. Shortly before Christmas, they came in and handed me a check for $4,000. I just remember the husband telling me, “Take some time off. You need it. And if you don’t, you’re going to forget what you’re doing this for.” At that point, I was also in disbelief because I was just like, “What have I done to deserve this?” But because of that, I was able to take a week off at Christmas, even though then I got sick and was with COVID and was sick for two weeks.
Scott
You would have taken that time off anyway, apparently.
Marsha
Yeah. Yeah. But at least then I had a little cushion to help cover my expenses at that time.
Scott
When you just said, “What have I done to deserve this?” You’ve been a good person. You do deserve it.
Marsha
Sometimes, you struggle with that. Am I?
Scott
I know what you mean. So they’re offering you a job. How did they know how much money you need or how much you need to make? Was that a discussion?
Marsha
It was a discussion. I did take a few days off just to contemplate what just happened. So basically a week after the accident, I went into their office and they basically just told me, “What do you need?” So I was just open. I said, “Look, this is what I need to make this between both jobs. This is what I make minimum. That’s what I need.” And he said, “Okay, no problem.” And no question, they just paid me what I needed to make.
Scott
You’re a tough negotiator.
Marsha
I mean, basically, it was very humbling because again, I’m just like, “What have I done to deserve this?” There are a lot of people who would be in this situation and it would be devastating, life-changing, and I just was very humbled to have people in my life that were willing to do things like that.
Scott
It’s interesting to me. You said you worked at the restaurant for about six years, right?
Marsha
Yes.
Scott
It’s almost like you were on a 6-year job interview.
Marsha
I guess you could look at it that way, yeah.
Scott
That’s how they got to know who you really were.
Marsha
Yeah, absolutely. Because there were times they would come in to have breakfast and sit there for an hour or two. And if we weren’t busy, we sat there and talked not as customers or employees, just as people. I did that with a lot of my customers if I had time to, and I really enjoyed those interactions with them. I always had this feeling/thought that I wanted to serve people the way I would enjoy having someone serve me – always cracking jokes with people and making them laugh. I would tell people, “You got food and entertainment at the same time.” They never knew what to expect from me on any visit.
Scott
That’s what kept him coming back, I’m sure.
Marsha
Absolutely, yeah. They just never knew what to expect. And you can come in for a quick bite or lunch or breakfast and relax and have a laugh.
Scott
I’m thinking for the owner of the restaurant. He’s got to be a little bit sad that you’re not going to be coming back.
Marsha
I think, at this point, they realize I’m not going to, but there have also been issues with the insurance and everything that’s going on where I don’t think they’re going to be able to get it back open. They’ve been having issues with the county, the airport, and the insurance. I don’t know for sure but I think, at this point, they’re just not going to pursue it.
Scott
Well, that’s unfortunate. How did this new job– what changed in your life?
Marsha
With this job, it enabled me to, 1) make enough money that I did not have to work both jobs. I was burnt out. I was exhausted. I did quit my job at the kennel. The owners of the business that I work at now, my customers, they had a family member who had a one-bedroom townhouse that they offered to me. Housing here is very expensive because of the oil field. That’s why I lived in the camper because it was affordable to me. So with this, I guess, it’s not a pay increase but it just enabled me to only work five days a week at the same rate of pay. I did agree to move in. I needed space, somewhere better to live, so I did move into this townhouse.
Scott
And this is a rental situation.
Marsha
Yeah, it is a rental situation but it’s a much bigger place. Because of that, I have a place for my kids to come and stay with me when they come in from out of town, which was quite frequently, whereas, before, they really couldn’t stay with me because my camper was so small.
Scott
And you get a couple of days off every week.
Marsha
Yeah, I still feel weird about having free time. I’m like, “I don’t know what to do with myself.” I have called the couple a couple of times like, “Hey, do you guys need help? I can come help on some of the weekends.”
Scott
It’s interesting for someone who works all the time. Having that downtime or free time is something you just kind of have to learn.
Marsha
Yeah, I mean, it’s been six months and I finally got to a point where I’m like, “Okay, I can enjoy my time off,” but in the beginning, I don’t know, I felt guilty not working all the time.
Scott
Okay, talking about feeling guilty, you’ve said that you feel guilty about what happened. Why is that?
Marsha
I just feel this guilty feeling because my life has changed for the better. I was given these opportunities that would not have happened without that crash and I just feel guilty because two people died and my life has gotten better just because of the incident. Sometimes, I struggle with feeling happy about the situation and it’s hard to appreciate it sometimes, so I just try and remind myself every day, make what happened appreciated, I guess. I’ve just been struggling with that a little bit.
Scott
I can understand that. The people that were in the plane, did you happen to know them at all? Were they residents of Odessa? Or do you know anything about them?
Marsha
I didn’t know them. From what I have read and heard, they had some kind of oil field company here in Odessa, but I don’t believe that they lived here.
Scott
Okay. So now, how long have you been at the new place, your new work?
Marsha
I did start exactly a week after the accident and I’ve been there since.
Scott
And are you enjoying it?
Marsha
I do enjoy it. It’s a lot less stressful but I’m also like, “I don’t have anyone to bullshit with every day.” I enjoyed those interactions with customers. I still talk to my co-workers. It’s not the same just seeing all these other people every day, but it has been really good.
Scott
How quickly did you learn how to do that work?
Marsha
Oh, my God. I’m still learning
Scott
There’s a lot to it, huh?
Marsha
Yes. Yeah. To go in with zero experience, yeah, sometimes, I still feel overwhelmed. Oh, my, what am I doing? But everyone has been really good here. This is what we’re doing. This is how you figure it out. This is how to get everything done and given me grace because I didn’t know anything.
Scott
And they knew that going in, so this is not a big surprise at all.
Marsha
Yeah.
Scott
Alright, one final question. Has this experience changed you in any way – like how you look at life and death?
Marsha
I don’t think I’ve really processed what had happened until the day after the accident when I was at the restaurant again. We had our back door open and, of course, customers were passing by. They saw cars and I had another regular who came into the back door and he was just like, “Oh, my God, are you okay?” I just told him, “I’m still in shock.” And he said, “Well, it wasn’t your time. There’s something better. There’s another plan for you.” At that moment, I kind of did break down because I was like, “Oh, my God, I could have died yesterday.” It’s been a very humbling and just grateful experience and makes me more appreciative of everything that is life. I look at things differently because, at any time, we could be gone in a blink of an eye. So I feel like I have tried to appreciate the small things and just be grateful for everything that we do have.
Scott
It’s a good way to look at it. When you were going to open the front door and you saw that plane’s lights coming at you, if it were 10 or 15 feet lower in altitude, it could have come right into the restaurant rather than just scraping, taking the roof off.
Marsha
I feel like, even if it was even three feet, it would have come into the building, which still I have trouble with airplane sounds. At this point, I still dream about seeing those lights coming at me and the sound. Yeah, it’s hard to deal with sometimes.
Scott
Have you thought about therapy at all?
Marsha
I’ve thought about it, I just haven’t done it. And honestly, I kind of felt like being able to talk about it on this podcast with you would help a little bit.
Scott
And I’m not even gonna charge you anything.
Marsha
Even better. A win-win.
Scott
Right. All right. Well, Marsha, I’m glad it turned out well for you and I appreciate you sharing your story.
Marsha
Well, I thank you for having me.
Scott
If you want to see pictures of Marsha and her daughter Kaleigh, as well as pictures of the damaged diner, that’s all in the episode notes at WhatWasThatLike.com/207.
And also on that page is information about Pappy’s BBQ, which is the OTHER restaurant owned by the same couple who owned the diner that was destroyed. It’s in Monahans, Texas if you want to go get something to eat and patronize a small business.
Okay, tonight’s the big night! This is the night Meredith and I are doing our Listener Meetup on Zoom!
And you’re invited! This is gonna happen from 7 pm to 8 pm eastern time and it’s today, which is February 21, 2025, so if you’re listening to this after that date, you missed it! We might do another one though. And the link for the zoom is WhatWasThatLike.com/chat. And I’ll say that again in about 30 seconds.
Anyway, Meredith and I will be asking each other some questions, and anyone who’s there can also ask questions, or comment, or – hey, you can just hang out and observe! You don’t have to speak, you don’t even have to have your camera on, it’s just whatever you’re comfortable with. We were just thinking it would be kind of fun to do this and get to know the people who listen to the show.
So once again, it’s tonight from 7 to 8 eastern time, and the link to get in the Zoom is: WhatWasThatLike.com/chat. Hope to see you there!
And don’t forget, after the Listener Story, I’ll have ALL of the 911 calls that I was able to secure for this incident with the plane crash that Marsha talked about today. It’s a lot – like 30 calls. And just about every one of them is the same dispatcher! I thought that was kind of unusual.
Graphics for this episode were created by Bob Bretz. Full episode transcription was created by James Lai.
And now – this week’s Listener Story. On every episode, at the end, we play a story that was sent in by a listener. Usually they’re like 5-10 minutes long, just some personal experience that was interesting or funny or something that people might like to hear. If you have a story like that, record it on your phone and email it to Scott@WhatWasThatLike.com.
This week’s Listener Story needs a content warning, for sexual assault.
Stay safe, and I’ll see you… tonight on Zoom.
(Listener Story)
My name is Brittany, and I live in Arizona. I am 30 years old. This happened last December. At the time, I was 29. I had just left my ex-fiancé of six years. We kind of grew apart, so we broke up and, immediately, I was ready to get back out into the dating world. I had no idea how scary the dating world is in this day and age. I feel like, at this point of being 30, it’s really just trying to look through, like, the clearance rack of men and finding the best deal because all the good ones are either married or don’t want to be in a relationship, I guess.
So I was on Facebook dating and doing my little swipey thing, left and right, and I came across this one guy and I thought he was cute, so I swiped right. We started messaging and something that I really liked about him that drew me to him was that he was a homeowner. He had a good job. I also have my own house and have a good job, so I was running into a lot of the type of people that want to kind of use me for that. So I was like, “Oh, okay, well, this guy is a little bit different than all of the other ones that I’m coming across.”
We’re talking and, I don’t know, I just kind of have this weird gut feeling in my stomach that told me that something just wasn’t right. Well, I went against my better judgment and decided to go and hang out with him. I should have known from the start that this was a sign. I did not want him to come to my house. I’m very much like the “Oh, come to my house” kind of person. I don’t like being out of my element but I decided to go to his house. I don’t know what made me do it, but I did. I think I was just so desperate to find love at the time.
So I ended up going to this guy’s house and I sent my location to my best friend and told her, “Hey, I’m going to this guy’s house. He only lived like five minutes away from me and it was in the same neighborhood as my best friend.” The fact that I decided to send my location to her, which I had never done previously or felt the need to was a sign, which, by the way, I do every time now that I end up meeting somebody off of the internet. So, I went to his house and I got inside, and everything was pretty, pretty good. He’s not a catfish or anything. So I went inside and we’re just kind of hanging out, listening to music, he’s smoking a lot of weed, which I don’t smoke. I don’t have an issue with it, but I just don’t smoke it. And he’s drinking a lot. He offers me a drink and I’m like, “No, thank you. I don’t want to drink at some random guy’s house that I’ve never met before.”
He offered me water and I was like, “Oh, sure.” And he got up and he’s in the kitchen for at least 2-3 minutes getting my water, which I was like, “Why is it taking him so long?” It’s just weird. So when he brought back the water, I decided to not drink it because I didn’t know if he had put something in it or not. I didn’t want to chance it, so I never drank that water.
A couple hours go by and, by this point, he’s very drunk and he’s starting to slur his words and you know all that stuff. He starts kissing me and I guess I’m too nice. I should have told him to stop, but I didn’t. So, he’s kissing me and stuff, and he eventually starts trying to put his hand down my pants, and I tell him, “No, I don’t want you to do that.” He starts trying to just pull my pants down, and he just was like, “I really just want to see” and I was like, “No, thank you. I don’t want to do that.” I had to tell this guy at least 20 times, no exaggeration, to please stop, that I didn’t want him to touch me or pull my pants down or anything like that, but he just kept trying. We’d just be in the middle of a conversation and he would just really quickly try to pull my pants down.
So, I’m at this point like, “Okay, I need to leave,” but he’s so erratic that I’m afraid to be like, “I’m leaving” and just get up and leave. I didn’t feel safe. I didn’t know how he would react. So, I decided to kind of ride it out and just be very aware and kind of hint at, “Oh, it’s getting late. I’m getting tired. I need to leave.” Well, I kind of started telling him, “Oh, it’s getting kind of late, I’m probably going to leave here soon.” I don’t want him to think that I’m leaving for any reason other than the fact that I’m just tired and it’s late, because I just felt like he would be offended and maybe he would try to hurt me or something.
So, we’re kind of just hanging out there, still listening to music, and he asks me, “Are you a girl that’s always scared of everything?” I’m like, “What do you mean?” And he’s like, “I don’t know. Just scared of stuff, murder and stuff like that.” And I’m like, “I mean, yeah, of course. I don’t feel like there’s very many people who aren’t.” And we were in a pitch-black room with just the TV on. And he was like, “Will you see that dark corner over there?” And I was like, “Yes.” And he was like, “Don’t go over there.” I was like, “Okay, why?” And he was like, “Cause that’s where I’m gonna kill you.” And I was like, “That’s not funny. Don’t joke about that.” And he’s like dying laughing like he’s drunk off his mind and he just thinks it’s the funniest thing that ever that he just said.
So I’m like, “Okay, that’s so weird. I’m probably gonna go soon. Just getting kind of late.” And he pulls his pants down, just lays on top of me, and is like kissing me. I literally had to push him off with all my force. He was like, “Well, can you please just spend the night? Can you please spend the night?” And I was like, “No, I don’t want to.” He’s like, “Please, I’m not going to have sex with you.” And I was like, “Oh, well, good. Cause I don’t want to.” And he was like, “Well, I wouldn’t rape you. If I did, it would be an accident.” And I was like, oh my God, so scared. Just my adrenaline is going and I just feel like it’s not safe to leave because I didn’t know how he was gonna react.
Finally, maybe 20 minutes later, I’m like, “Alright, I think it’s probably time for me to go. I’m very tired.” And he was like, “Okay, fine.” So I got up and grabbed my purse and I was getting ready to walk out. He had this, like, 75-pound pit bull mix. It was a sweet dog but he– I don’t remember what the dog’s name was. For the sake of the story, I’m just gonna call him Bear. He looked at his dog, Bear, and he went, “Bear, kill her so I can have her.” And I gave him the craziest look ever. I’m like walking out the door as he’s saying that, and he’s like, “I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. Alright, Bear, say bye to her, cause we’ll probably never see her again.” And I’m thinking to myself, “Wow, you fucking think?”
So, I made it out of there safely and I never talked to him again. That was a very traumatic experience for me. So, dating has been pretty scary and I’m pretty nervous to hang out with anybody ever since then and public places are a definite must. If there is something in my gut that just doesn’t feel right, I just stop immediately because my gut is telling me something for a reason.