TwEeThUmBsUp

Flashback

September 18, 2004

Getting to the airport was not much of a hassle. We unloaded our bags from the car and went immediately to check them in. I was surprised that the queu was already long considering the fact that we were there quite early. We fell in line, nontheless, and waited eagerly for our time to be served. I was a bit worried about the bags since I was very much aware that I have over-packed again. I already had an idea about what to do in case we would be charged. NO! definitely not unpacking, but I was ready to beg!!! Hehehehe! When it was our turn to check-in, I nervously attached my Fraport ID just so that the lady at the counter could see it. I was not quite sure if it would work, but somebody already gave me the tip to do it. So I did! Sure enough, the lady behind the counter said: "You have an excess baggage of so,so kilos", first looking at my hubby and then to me. My dear hubby started to discuss with me about what to do with the stuff, since we had a lot of "padalas" with us, meaning, we were hesitant to pay for excess which didn't actually belong to us. Then, there it was, the magic words, "You're an airport employee", she said to me. I nervously said "yes," adding the name of my company. "Okay, I will put all your bags in your name", was all she said.

Ang buhay nga naman! Kung kelan gusto ko nang huminto mag trabaho, at di na ako masaya sa trabaho ko, saka naman naging kapaki-pakinabang ito! From there on, we proceeded to fall in line again for the passport control and then to the security control where the lines were terrible. Tapos we had an encounter with the Russians. There were four of them and they were trying to cut into our line. The people who were in front of us already told them to get lost, but they just stood there as if they didn't understand a word that was said to them. A Japanese lady who was standing behind me was already upset. So I very nicely asked my dear hubby to tell the Russians (in their language, of course) to be civilize and fall in line. They were surprised for a while but still didn't make a move. They stood there trying to block our way. At this point, a lot of us were already annoyed with them. Then somebody managed to call the attention of the BGS who politely asked the Russians to fall in line. Yun lang! Tapos sabi lang ng BGS na hindi dapat maging mainit ang mga ulo ng mga naka pila na pasahero...hello?!

Kaya naman, we were so glad when our turn came. Akala ko in just a couple of minutes, makaka-lusot na kami from the mob there, but hell no! I was asked to open my bags because of my laptop. Strange was, my hubby also had his laptop with him and yet he was not asked to open his. Anyway, the random control took another couple of minutes. Finally, we were on our way to the gate. At the next security control, the employee said, I could simply go through since I am an employee. But the other employee said otherwise because I was a passenger...and they discussed the situation there in front of the passengers... Then hubby thought this would take longer... said in a joking manner, "okay, everyday at work, there is something new". I laid my stuff on the conveyor of the machine and had myself body frisked. So there you go, another misinformation, perhaps? Definitely not inefficiency!!!

Finally, we got to the gate just a few minutes before boarding time. We thought, okay, that was quite an experience through the jungle, but what the heck! We wanted to enjoy the start of our vacation. So, we boarded the plane, placed all our handcarry's inside the compartment and sat down while waiting for pushback.