One of my fave moments in African aviation was when I flew Budgies for Air Malawi back in the 80s and was fed up with a certain minister who used to send his flunky / chauffeur to the strip in Mzuzu to ' Check-in ' ( the local Airline Staff could never dare to refuse this abuse ) and then carry on carousing and keeping all the decent punters waiting on board.
One Friday I was operating the last flight back to Blantyre for 48 hours ( ie no other way to get home for the weekend ), the usual happened , I waited until I could see his Merc coming back down the airport road ( this time with him in it ) , then I started #2 knowing that he would see this , the Merc picked up speed , then we were all treated to the sight of said ' Fat Controller ' attempting to propel his Size 12 bod at warp speed across the tarmac without bursting his M & S top of the range suit , crawling up the wobbly steps by the forward cargo/ crew door as we started #1 2 seconds later !! Great applause from various punters . The highlight for me was the appearance of a flunkey on the F Deck in the cruise ( good old days ) and rather than forcing the expected notice - of - execution on me , thanked me profusely on behalf of now half -dead minister for ' delaying' flight etc !!!!
Needless to say , he was never late again .
Still wondering why my contract was never renewed though.