Yeah, it was!!!
From the age of 7 (in the 1970's) I had to fly as a U.M. (unaccompanied minor badge, tin tuck-box and log book thrown in) on BOAC to and fro between home in the Far East and boarding school in the UK. And in those days of VC 10's there were numerous fuel stops. Took about a couple of days.
And to make the trip really comfortable for this 7year old boy I had to travel in my best suit and tie and shiny black shoes. Nice thick chequered material, huge tie and the stiffest hardest black shoes only worn once every Sunday morning for pre Church inspection. Ah, those were the days.
On one flight my feet had swelled up so much I barely managed to get my shoes on in time before being ushered into first class for the landing and subsequent ushering into the ground staff hands. At the top of the steps I breathed in the lovely smell of the tropics and took my first step, only to trip on my untied shoelace and tumble the rest of the way down the steps, all the way to the bottom, narrowly missing taking out a few real 1st class passengers. A VC 10 sits quite high and I remember hurting a bit when the tarmac apron broke my fall. Embarrassing then, funny now.
