A missed connection reflection

One's true personality tends to reveal itself under due stress. As you read this, I am on a flight from Dubai to Europe. I should have been there yesterday. However, our scheduled flight from Sydney was delayed by one hour. I only found out the reason behind the delay from one very vocal and distressed passenger. I was both intrigued and amused, and as I and most of the others were going nowhere fast, I thought and sat back and enjoyed the 'entertainment', a private joke between husband and me.

It started with three hours wait at a check-in counter and with the current climate - and if we want to travel internationally - it, as they say, comes with the job. After checking in, passing through customs, and arriving at my designated seat, we waited and waited. And after a fourteen-hour haul, it seemed we were waiting yet again. One of the pleasures of living in one of the most beautiful countries globally is that we are essentially far away, so time and connections are a big deal for the Australian traveller. One hour of lateness, and we are all doomed to an overnight stay in a city that was only meant as a flight change.

So, imagine sixty or so passengers of all shapes and sizes bolt out of the aircraft at speed even Superman would have been proud of, only to be greeted with many 'sorry sorr-ies' and 'no flights out today' in various English accents. We were handed new boarding passes for the next day, a hotel and meal voucher and pointed in the direction of the waiting bus transfer.

The truth emerges.

'I have to be on that flight; you have no idea how much this will cost you.' Shouted the first fellow off the starting block.

'I'm a business class passenger. Can't you just put me on the next flight…Okay then, perhaps a hotel befitting of a business class seat?' (note wanker alert).

'Whoo-hoo, hotel bed tonight.' Laughed the backpacker as he threw his MacPro Elite C30 down and telepathically snap chatted the images of the ‘hangry’ crowd around the airline representative.

There were 'tsk tsks' from the grey nomads, several confused looks from the non-English speakers and all the parents travelling with toddlers and babies bandied around like a community mother's group and began to share their horror/sanity-saving recollections of the previous flight.

The once were strangers now shared a common thread and, by all accounts, a shared hotel transfer as well! And for yours truly, my only concern was letting the relos know I won't be having a glass of bubbly anytime soon, and the absence of fresh knickers in my handbag left me a little distraught. Thank goodness for the airport shopping.
#travels2022 #airportmayhem #peoplewatching

• Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com