I ended 2012 with a chaotic departure from Mumbai - everything that could go wrong, did go wrong!
I was so distracted while packing (read - excited to get out of dodge) that I wasn't ready on time for my ride to the airport. So rush, rush, rush = stress!
Once at the airport, I decided to skip the long line for my airline for a shorter one of another airline. After a lot of 'talking' to security, I got a colleague inside this 'wrong' line, only to then realized I'd forgotten my wallet at home!
In a panic I tried to flag a taxi, but was thwarted by the policeman standing behind me telling them all to move on - I wasn't in the designated Taxi Place. Spas that I am, I ended up losing it at the policeman who then let me get in a taxi, and I told the driver I'd pay him double if he got me home and back in under half an hour. Insanity!
After a reckless drive home and back, with all my luggage and every limb braced against a different side of the taxi, I was once again in the ridiculous line to enter the airport. But without a paper print out of my flight, security wouldn't let me inside. Frustration!
They called someone from the airline to come out. Blah, blah, blah, and he takes my passport inside. I wait. Then he comes back, some more blah, blah, blah, and we both go inside. We rush to the counter and pretend to be totally calm as they check my bags. Surreal.
Once checked in, I realize it's really late and asked if there is any way they could expedite my getting to the gate. The lines at immigration, and security after that, are even longer than the ones just to get inside the airport. After several silent looks, a baggage handler grabbed a wheelchair, told me to sit and 'look sad.' I did and he wheeled me practically running through immigration and security. Hysterical.
Once on the plane to Frankfurt I relaxed a bit, only to realize I'd brought my Greek SIM card, not my US SIM card...so my phone wasn't going to work when I arrived in the U.S. But by Washington, D.C. I'd figured out I could text with that SIM, even if I couldn't call anyone.
Another time through security and immigration in the U.S. and I'm off to Pittsburgh, only to realized after collecting my bags and dragging them to the car rental office, that I'd forgotten my US drivers license. Despair!
No one would rent me a car, it was after 9pm, and I'd been traveling for nearly 30 hours. Clenching my teeth to hold back tears I pleaded with the rental car agent to lend me the phone so I could at least call someone to come get me. Pathetic.
My sister talked me off the ledge as my brother-in-law came to pick me up. And my holidays were wonderful in Ohio.
And my flights were lovely all the way back to Mumbai, where I was greeted with...
I was so distracted while packing (read - excited to get out of dodge) that I wasn't ready on time for my ride to the airport. So rush, rush, rush = stress!
Once at the airport, I decided to skip the long line for my airline for a shorter one of another airline. After a lot of 'talking' to security, I got a colleague inside this 'wrong' line, only to then realized I'd forgotten my wallet at home!
In a panic I tried to flag a taxi, but was thwarted by the policeman standing behind me telling them all to move on - I wasn't in the designated Taxi Place. Spas that I am, I ended up losing it at the policeman who then let me get in a taxi, and I told the driver I'd pay him double if he got me home and back in under half an hour. Insanity!
After a reckless drive home and back, with all my luggage and every limb braced against a different side of the taxi, I was once again in the ridiculous line to enter the airport. But without a paper print out of my flight, security wouldn't let me inside. Frustration!
They called someone from the airline to come out. Blah, blah, blah, and he takes my passport inside. I wait. Then he comes back, some more blah, blah, blah, and we both go inside. We rush to the counter and pretend to be totally calm as they check my bags. Surreal.
Once checked in, I realize it's really late and asked if there is any way they could expedite my getting to the gate. The lines at immigration, and security after that, are even longer than the ones just to get inside the airport. After several silent looks, a baggage handler grabbed a wheelchair, told me to sit and 'look sad.' I did and he wheeled me practically running through immigration and security. Hysterical.
Once on the plane to Frankfurt I relaxed a bit, only to realize I'd brought my Greek SIM card, not my US SIM card...so my phone wasn't going to work when I arrived in the U.S. But by Washington, D.C. I'd figured out I could text with that SIM, even if I couldn't call anyone.
Another time through security and immigration in the U.S. and I'm off to Pittsburgh, only to realized after collecting my bags and dragging them to the car rental office, that I'd forgotten my US drivers license. Despair!
No one would rent me a car, it was after 9pm, and I'd been traveling for nearly 30 hours. Clenching my teeth to hold back tears I pleaded with the rental car agent to lend me the phone so I could at least call someone to come get me. Pathetic.
My sister talked me off the ledge as my brother-in-law came to pick me up. And my holidays were wonderful in Ohio.
And my flights were lovely all the way back to Mumbai, where I was greeted with...
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| Pushing and shoving at the baggage carrousel. |
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| The swarms of people waiting outside the airport. |
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