The A List: Lessons from an Airport Cargo Crew

How a hard-nosed manager and a diverse crew taught me about work, loyalty, and opportunity

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I loved my airport job in South Carolina. It was hard work — unloading cargo planes at 3 a.m. It was fast-paced sorting packages, heaving 50-pound boxes onto trucks or smaller planes — but it was a workout I didn’t have to pay for.

We had to clear two big aircraft by 8 a.m., rain or shine. Fifty guys split about half Black, half white, a sprinkle of Hispanics, and the occasional woman tough enough to hang. It was fast, physical, and oddly fun.

I was a smaller white guy, not the high school football type like the crew. The manager, Richard, eyed me on day one and muttered, “Are you sure you can keep up?” I could, and I did, proving it felt good.

Richard was a tall, wiry Black man with gray creeping into his hair. He ran the show with a voice that boomed — partly because he was half-deaf and partly because he ran a tight ship.

“You’re on my A list today!” he’d yell if you were doing good. Screw up, and it was “B list for you!” B-listers didn’t last long. He was demanding but fair, quick with a dry joke when the mood struck.