In exactly one week from now, at precisely the same time, I would probably be cruising over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of 55k feet. I am really not one of those people who suffer from flight sickness, or any other kind of sickness related to travel, but then I don't fancy these long flights, and even longer layovers.Here is one of my unfinished posts , written on one particularly boring layover at the Chicago O'Hare a few months ago.
It was a cold,damp morning. I was dozing on UA 5855,oblivious to the surroundings. A group of boisterious teenagers - not exactly my idea of unobtrusive co-passengers.
"We have an international connection to make" they said to the helpful flight attendant. "All connections may have been delayed due to bad weather too, so you might be able to make it on time". She came back with terminal numbers for all our connecting flights.
"Yours would be c4" she said, with a practised smile that she must have flashed to over a thousand strangers now. "Oh, wait a minute, I think we are landing at c4 too. Where are you going?" She asked. "Calagary" they replied. "You might be continuing on this flight Sir." There was a joyous glee on their faces. "What luck !" they thought.
She came back in sometime, only to tell them that this flight would not continue to Calagary, and so the terminal information was wrong afterall.They looked forlorn. The flight descended.The PA system crackled to life "As a courtesy to other co-passengers who have tight connections, we request you to stand by , and let them pass first".
When you are at the rear end of the flight, that doesn't help much either. They picked their belongings hurriedly,throwing the whole overhead compartment into disarray. One of them glanced through the window. "Oh look, that one over there, just might be our Calagary flight. We may have watched our flight depart before our own eyes!!" they cranked their necks to see a jumbo international Boeing getting ready for a long haul.
They waited, and waited. "Hey we should check if all these people standing before us have connecting flights.." The long haired nerdy teen looked at an old man, "Hey, you dont look like you have a connecting flight!!" they joked, sarascm peeking out from one tiny corner."We are nice people, we swear" they said ,as the semi-amused flight attendant watched.It was almost like a sine-wave graph - mixed feelings of hope and resignation as these starry eyed teenagers waited.
Did they miss the flight at the end? Would it have made a difference if they were at seat 1 instead of seat 16? Did they still make it to their place on time? I wondered.There is not much one can do about flights,and journeys.You miss some, you let some go in front of your eyes. YOu board some,just on time.
And then you travel.And travel. And travel.
It was a cold,damp morning. I was dozing on UA 5855,oblivious to the surroundings. A group of boisterious teenagers - not exactly my idea of unobtrusive co-passengers.
"We have an international connection to make" they said to the helpful flight attendant. "All connections may have been delayed due to bad weather too, so you might be able to make it on time". She came back with terminal numbers for all our connecting flights.
"Yours would be c4" she said, with a practised smile that she must have flashed to over a thousand strangers now. "Oh, wait a minute, I think we are landing at c4 too. Where are you going?" She asked. "Calagary" they replied. "You might be continuing on this flight Sir." There was a joyous glee on their faces. "What luck !" they thought.
She came back in sometime, only to tell them that this flight would not continue to Calagary, and so the terminal information was wrong afterall.They looked forlorn. The flight descended.The PA system crackled to life "As a courtesy to other co-passengers who have tight connections, we request you to stand by , and let them pass first".
When you are at the rear end of the flight, that doesn't help much either. They picked their belongings hurriedly,throwing the whole overhead compartment into disarray. One of them glanced through the window. "Oh look, that one over there, just might be our Calagary flight. We may have watched our flight depart before our own eyes!!" they cranked their necks to see a jumbo international Boeing getting ready for a long haul.
They waited, and waited. "Hey we should check if all these people standing before us have connecting flights.." The long haired nerdy teen looked at an old man, "Hey, you dont look like you have a connecting flight!!" they joked, sarascm peeking out from one tiny corner."We are nice people, we swear" they said ,as the semi-amused flight attendant watched.It was almost like a sine-wave graph - mixed feelings of hope and resignation as these starry eyed teenagers waited.
Did they miss the flight at the end? Would it have made a difference if they were at seat 1 instead of seat 16? Did they still make it to their place on time? I wondered.There is not much one can do about flights,and journeys.You miss some, you let some go in front of your eyes. YOu board some,just on time.
And then you travel.And travel. And travel.
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