by Just About Anything (sachtheone.*************)
photo by flickr.com/photos/teller
Is how they should have named Sri Lankan Airlines. Let me tell you about my journey back to Japan yesterday, and you will surely agree with me.
To begin with, my flight was scheduled to leave at 11.50 p.m. which was supposed to be a direct flight to Japan. Having lived in this Paradise Island close to three decades, one thing I’m accustomed to is that nothing really works the way it is supposed to, so I arrived at the airport three hours earlier, just in case.
And of course the first mess up of the day started as the flight was delayed by an hour or so. But that is customary, as I’ve mentioned a couple of lines ago, so I just took a seat in the area just before the check-in counters. I was with D and his family, so it wasn’t boring.
Now, though the flight was supposed to be direct, the screens on the wall said it will go via Male (Not male in the sense opposite of fairer sex, but the island Male. I always wondered why they couldn’t write it as Maley, or with that little dash above the e. Oh well, who cares) and the flight was delayed.
WTF, was my first thought but then again it’s something I cannot change so I stopped worrying about it and started concentrating on a particularly hot chick who was seated in a distance seat. Lucky I have a good eye sight. So then after some time, at about 12 midnight the screen changed saying the check in counters were open; thus we proceeded to the counters.
Strangely, there were no people there and the her majesty who was at the counter barked (I mean no insult to the good old dogs here, by the way) at us saying we were too late and cannot be let in.
WTF, was again my thought though I had no idea that it was only the second of many such thoughts to follow in the following hour or so. And she thoroughly denied that the screens displayed any information about flights getting delayed. Third WTF.
However we finally came to an agreement and she agreed to check us in for the flight that was going to depart in twenty minutes according to her.
Now, I was allowed 30 kilos plus additional 7 as hand luggage. But since I did not want to carry the hand luggage I put it inside the other making it close to 37 in total. Now her majesty sees this and;
You’ll have to take out 7 kilos
Umm… why? I’m not over, am I?
No, but you have to put the 30 and 7 separately. Take 7 kilos out and put it in your hand luggage!
Another WTF.
Oh sorry. I thought they both go in the same plane. My bad.
Seriously, it’s like that old story where the guy traveling in a cart carried his back pack in his hands as opposed to putting it on the cart, intending not to give extra weight to the Buffalo. Her majesty was full of wisdom like that. As the plane was supposed to depart soon I didn’t want to waste my time arguing so I put 7 kilos in a backpack and allowed her to fulfill her wish.
Then we proceeded to the emigration counter. Now his majesty at the counter wants to know why I travelled to Indian a decade back, which passport I held at that time, and why I went there. Another WTF. All the while, he punches keys at a frequency of one key a minute. When the plane is supposedly due to leave in a few minutes. WTF #… well I’ve lost count. I was like, OK, go on asshole; let’s see what’ll happen if I miss the flight. Then after some more minutes we finally arrived at the departure lounge.
And know what? The plane that was supposed to departure in a few minutes, which was so close to depart that we cannot be let in, was calmly sitting there while still being loaded. WTF, again. Finally it left this Land Like No Other after another hour.
Oh and almost forgot. We finally got to know, after the pilot announced, that it was a direct flight after all, as opposed to the information at the airport. That was a relief, but still it was worth another WTF – passengers getting to know where they are going only after boarding the plane. That is unheard of, I’m sure.