A commercial airline pilot on one occasion made a particularly bad landing. The wheels of the big jet hit the runway with a jarring thud. Afterward, the airline had a policy, which required that the pilot stand at the door while the passengers exited. He was to give each of them a smile and say, "Thanks for flying with us today." In light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment, but no one seemed annoyed.

Finally everyone had gotten off except for one little old lady walking with a cane. She approached the pilot and asked, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why no Ma'am, what is it?" said the pilot bravely.

"Did we land," she asked, "or were we shot down?"

Maybe you've had days like that--days when i…