CHAPTER 3:
There's simply no getting out of bad luck. Is there?
Like I said, I was stuck in Hong Kong. I did not know that Airline Carriers usually help out in these situations. I didn't think they did. Why would they? So when I saw two people from the Cabin crew of the cariier I was traveling with waiting for me, I was befuddled (Which by the way is only a fancy word for confused and it looks like I have used the adjective quite too often). There was an air hostess and a male flight attendant (I seriously do not know what the word for this profession is! Please reply in the comments section if you do.) and they seemed sympathetic. They told me that my flight had left and I had to take the next flight. When would that be I asked and got the usual "We have to check" answer. So they escorted me out of that security line to the waiting hall. The guy asked for my passport and my boarding pass and that's when it hit me. I hadn't collected my handbag from the counter.
Holy shit! Why was this happening to me? And a voice inside me said "You asked for exciting, didn't you?". So the guy ran back to the line while we waited and believe me, seeing a man in a suit carrying a handbag never made me feel happier than it did then. Well they checked liked they said they would and there was a flight that day. Good. It was twelve hours later. Not again! I was supposed to be in office the next morning and my earlier flight would have given me that plus a lot of hours to relax. I started calculating first in India time, then in Hong Kong time, then in SFO time and too perplexed to do math, I finally asked them when I would reach San Francisco. I would reach 8 hrs before I have to get ready for office.
My mind had never been more tried than it had been that day. A timeline of what went through my mind from the moment I got down at the airport
1) Run! Run! Run! You are not getting on..
2) Wait! You feet is killing you.
3) You'll live. Just keep Running. Slower people.. Slower!
4) Made it to the line. The line is slow. Faster People.. Faster!
6) I should learn Chinese someday. Naa.. Italian is better
7) Why is the guy with my bag gone this long. They don't steal wallets in airports. Do they?
8) Good. He is back! Stop speaking to your colleague and give me my bag
9) Oh! I carried a pepper spray. Can you be considered a terrorist for carrying pepper spray on board?
10) No fucking way! Pepper sprays cannot be illegal. This guy is an idiot
11) You are the idiot. It is illegal. What happens now?
12) The cops? Girl, Wake up it is serious.
13) Chinese Jails are horrible. No light. No space. You will die in jail and your parents will never know.
14) Maybe they will call up the embassy and check.
15) Really? That's what you want to think about right now.
16) Wait Hong Kong is not a part of China
17) The lady is talking to you. Reply!
18) Why am I not crying now? Am I really that brazen?
19) Maybe they would believe me if I cried.
20) They'll know you are faking it. They are cops!
21) God, I only don't want to be arrested.
22) Did you just think God? You are an atheist remember?
23) Okay I take that back. I simply don't want to be arrested.
24) Yay! This guy says you will only be getting a warrant because you are a visitor.
25) Bless Diplomacy and the person who wrote the Hong Kong constitution.
26) What my flight's gone? It has only been like 10 minutes.
27) I am stuck. I am not getting out of this country!
28) Can I buy a new ticket? Good, you have your credit card!
29) Why are the flight people here?
30) There is a air hostess and a what-do-i-call-him? Steward? Isn't that like a cook? He looks too good to be called a steward.
31) Going I am going to sit down.
32) They are going to book your next flight for you. Relax
33) My Passport? That's in my bag and my bag I don't have
34) The air hostess says wait. Am I still under supervision?
35) The Guy is going to get it. I hope he can find it. Maybe he wont?
36) a) Thats not the guy. The guy was wearing a grey suit
b) Not that guy either. He looks too old
c) Is that him? Looks like it. He has a blue hand bag and that is mine!! Ooofff. All is well
37) Why is the kid in the other seat crying so loudly?
38) My next flight is in 12 hours? Doesn't it take 12 hrs of travel? It is already 3 in the afternoon. I can't make it to office tomorrow.
39) You are so stupid. The time difference. Time difference between Hong-kong and SFO is... is...
40) Don't calculate it like that.
41) When will I reach? Am I getting dumber? I thought I was good at math..
42) Well I will reach at 10 midnight. I will have enough time. I don't have to call my manager.
43) You still have to. He doesn't know you are stuck here. Call? He is aboard.
44) I have to call him. You have to call your parents.
45) Why doesn't the call go through? I thought it was an international SIM.
46) Well send everybody a mail. Nobody checks mail that often. A FB message?
47) Good atleast they know. All is well again.
48) Hey, maybe you can checkout the Hong Kong airport.
49) Why isn't the lady still leaving? I got the boarding pass for my next flight. You are under supervision!
50) No, she is not! She is waiting to get your baggage transferred.
51) Is that possible? I thought my flight left. Whatever! You are not being supervised.
52) She seems nice. She likes India though she has never been there. Why does everybody feel entitled to say that?
53) So Chinese letters are the Cantonese script. Chinese is way cooler. Learn that before Italian.
54) She want to say Hello in Indian. 'Indian'? Girl there are like a million 'Indian' languages.
55) You just called Mandarin Chinese. You are one to judge!
56) "Nai Ho", "Nei Ho", Oh "Ni Ho". Mandarin is hard. Maybe Italian first.
57) Macau is like Las Vegas? You have to be 18 to enter?
58) She likes Korean serial too. She likes Lee Min Ho. Jun Pyo was really good.
59) The Taj Mahal? The Taj Mahal is overrated. You can't say that to her! Tell her it is gorgeous
60) Uff,, They got the luggage shifted and I am hungry. So Ciao then Christina. Christina Liu? Lui Got it.
Well, I had twelve hours to spare in a unknown country, Nice stores to window shop and a company card to pay for all I can eat. Its not that bad after all. Bad luck? Or was it?
There's simply no getting out of bad luck. Is there?
Like I said, I was stuck in Hong Kong. I did not know that Airline Carriers usually help out in these situations. I didn't think they did. Why would they? So when I saw two people from the Cabin crew of the cariier I was traveling with waiting for me, I was befuddled (Which by the way is only a fancy word for confused and it looks like I have used the adjective quite too often). There was an air hostess and a male flight attendant (I seriously do not know what the word for this profession is! Please reply in the comments section if you do.) and they seemed sympathetic. They told me that my flight had left and I had to take the next flight. When would that be I asked and got the usual "We have to check" answer. So they escorted me out of that security line to the waiting hall. The guy asked for my passport and my boarding pass and that's when it hit me. I hadn't collected my handbag from the counter.
Holy shit! Why was this happening to me? And a voice inside me said "You asked for exciting, didn't you?". So the guy ran back to the line while we waited and believe me, seeing a man in a suit carrying a handbag never made me feel happier than it did then. Well they checked liked they said they would and there was a flight that day. Good. It was twelve hours later. Not again! I was supposed to be in office the next morning and my earlier flight would have given me that plus a lot of hours to relax. I started calculating first in India time, then in Hong Kong time, then in SFO time and too perplexed to do math, I finally asked them when I would reach San Francisco. I would reach 8 hrs before I have to get ready for office.
My mind had never been more tried than it had been that day. A timeline of what went through my mind from the moment I got down at the airport
1) Run! Run! Run! You are not getting on..
2) Wait! You feet is killing you.
3) You'll live. Just keep Running. Slower people.. Slower!
4) Made it to the line. The line is slow. Faster People.. Faster!
6)
7) Why is the guy with my bag gone this long. They don't steal wallets in airports. Do they?
8) Good. He is back! Stop speaking to your colleague and give me my bag
9) Oh! I carried a pepper spray. Can you be considered a terrorist for carrying pepper spray on board?
10) No fucking way! Pepper sprays cannot be illegal. This guy is an idiot
11) You are the idiot. It is illegal. What happens now?
12) The cops? Girl, Wake up it is serious.
13) Chinese Jails are horrible. No light. No space. You will die in jail and your parents will never know.
14) Maybe they will call up the embassy and check.
15) Really? That's what you want to think about right now.
16) Wait Hong Kong is not a part of China
17) The lady is talking to you. Reply!
18) Why am I not crying now? Am I really that brazen?
19) Maybe they would believe me if I cried.
20) They'll know you are faking it. They are cops!
21) God, I only don't want to be arrested.
22) Did you just think God? You are an atheist remember?
23) Okay I take that back. I simply don't want to be arrested.
24) Yay! This guy says you will only be getting a warrant because you are a visitor.
25) Bless Diplomacy and the person who wrote the Hong Kong constitution.
26) What my flight's gone? It has only been like 10 minutes.
27) I am stuck. I am not getting out of this country!
28) Can I buy a new ticket? Good, you have your credit card!
29) Why are the flight people here?
30) There is a air hostess and a what-do-i-call-him? Steward? Isn't that like a cook? He looks too good to be called a steward.
31) Going I am going to sit down.
32) They are going to book your next flight for you. Relax
33) My Passport? That's in my bag and my bag I don't have
34) The air hostess says wait. Am I still under supervision?
35) The Guy is going to get it. I hope he can find it. Maybe he wont?
36) a) Thats not the guy. The guy was wearing a grey suit
b) Not that guy either. He looks too old
c) Is that him? Looks like it. He has a blue hand bag and that is mine!! Ooofff. All is well
37) Why is the kid in the other seat crying so loudly?
38) My next flight is in 12 hours? Doesn't it take 12 hrs of travel? It is already 3 in the afternoon. I can't make it to office tomorrow.
39) You are so stupid. The time difference. Time difference between Hong-kong and SFO is... is...
40) Don't calculate it like that.
41) When will I reach? Am I getting dumber? I thought I was good at math..
42) Well I will reach at 10 midnight. I will have enough time. I don't have to call my manager.
43) You still have to. He doesn't know you are stuck here. Call? He is aboard.
44) I have to call him. You have to call your parents.
45) Why doesn't the call go through? I thought it was an international SIM.
46) Well send everybody a mail. Nobody checks mail that often. A FB message?
47) Good atleast they know. All is well again.
48) Hey, maybe you can checkout the Hong Kong airport.
49) Why isn't the lady still leaving? I got the boarding pass for my next flight. You are under supervision!
50) No, she is not! She is waiting to get your baggage transferred.
51) Is that possible? I thought my flight left. Whatever! You are not being supervised.
52) She seems nice. She likes India though she has never been there. Why does everybody feel entitled to say that?
53) So Chinese letters are the Cantonese script. Chinese is way cooler. Learn that before Italian.
54) She want to say Hello in Indian. 'Indian'? Girl there are like a million 'Indian' languages.
55) You just called Mandarin Chinese. You are one to judge!
56) "Nai Ho", "Nei Ho", Oh "Ni Ho". Mandarin is hard. Maybe Italian first.
57) Macau is like Las Vegas? You have to be 18 to enter?
58) She likes Korean serial too. She likes Lee Min Ho. Jun Pyo was really good.
59) The Taj Mahal? The Taj Mahal is overrated. You can't say that to her! Tell her it is gorgeous
60) Uff,, They got the luggage shifted and I am hungry. So Ciao then Christina. Christina Liu? Lui Got it.
Well, I had twelve hours to spare in a unknown country, Nice stores to window shop and a company card to pay for all I can eat. Its not that bad after all. Bad luck? Or was it?
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