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05:28 PM
Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
October 24, 2013
Seven things happened to me on the flight:
The seat I was given failed to go back two inches when I pressed the button. It is only two inches but if you are travelling economy (who doesn’t?) and the ambience is claustrophobic those two inches are a major lean back. Others are going aaahhhhhhhhhhhh in relief and you are sitting there as rigid as a soldier on parade. How can I lean back and enjoy the flight if you won’t let me.
All mothers with babies were given seats next to mine in front and behind so we had this orchestra of baby sounds ranging from wails to shrill shrieks to gurgles. In case this was not enough I was also given an opportunity to enjoy a five-year-old and his little old sister display their loathing for each other as they stomped up and down and reported each other to their comatose parents.
The man next to me finally slumped onto my side and rested his oily head on my shoulder.
The man across the aisle got up four times in the first hour to open the overhead bin and pull out things and put back things and generally check on his luggage. In the second hour he did it again and again and then again and since he was in 11B we had to keep getting up and making others move. He would bunch his fingers into a little ball to underscore his request.
The mandatory newly-wed lady bought something from the on-board duty free and was given a bundle of $1 bills in change which she refused and an argument ensued and the newly minted husband decided to show his guts and impress his simpering mate so he called for the complaint book and after the impasse was resolved, the husband and wife canvassed support and opinion from all those around them and a hot debate ensued on how incompetent the airline was.
The two men on my left cross talked that debate with one of their own on what was actually going on in the company they worked for and one thought the owner wasn’t actually the owner but the young man who came in the big car that day was the sleeping partner and he had the power and the owner who was not the owner was only a shell and this discussion went on for three hours.
The air hostess spilled juice on herself. Believe it’s worse than tea or coffee as spills go.
Oh yes, the moment everyone landed there was a stampede as people pushed and shoved and trampled each other…never ever figured that out.
(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)
If my call is so important to them, why don’t they answer it for 22 minutes?
How come when I want to, but something specific online is the only item out of stock.
When I get into a queue or lane going fast, the moment I get in, it becomes the slowest and refuses to budge.
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