Yeah, I love George Clooney and his movies. But this post is
about observing the different flavored co-passengers while at the airport or up
in the air. And, somehow I always find people fitting into one of these...
Chronic
Complainer
He/She is sort of the patient who goes to
the doctor with some song and dance, seeking pain or anxiety medicine to feed
his addiction. Every time you turn around, he’s out there finding another
reason to complain about. Fellow travelers beware…hell hath no fury like a
complainer scorned.
Hum
Saath Saath Hain
The great Indian family that upholds the “unity”
no matter what…they always move in a herd, queue up at the check in counter
even if one member is collecting everyone’s boarding pass, go through security
checks or restroom breaks gender-wise and reunite at a common spot (the
environment would be all tense if a mamaji
or a babu takes longer to reunite). They
would make passengers on the airport transfer buses to shift seats so that they
get ‘X’ seats in a row to sit together even if they have nothing to say to each
other.
Ms./Mr.
High Flying Career
They’re the Blackberry boys…they’re the
Blackberry boys. The stereotypical business/corporate person who is in a hurry,
wants no fluff, and no chit-chat. They want to get in and get out and take care
of business with as little time wasted as possible. They would devour cups of
coffee and laugh the controlled rhythmic laughter (LOL) while cracking a super
brainy joke before retiring to assault the PDAs and Smartphones yet again.
Get
Set Go
May be I should name them as “Complan
boy/Bournvita kids” conditioned to come first. They are the panic stricken
breed who always wants to go first. Whether in a queue, boarding an airplane or
sitting in a lounge…it’s methodological and calculated coz they have to win. May
be this is what goes on in their head…Choose a seat in the lounge that is
closest to the boarding gate (so that I can be first), and thereby I can be the
first to get into the bus. This will allow me to get out of the bus and be the
first to sit in the aircraft and blah blah. Am sure they reach sooner than the
stipulated travel time…at least mentally!
Mr.
I Know it All
He knows everything. From the mechanics of
Boeing 747 to the tear dropping Tulsi of
Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi and will give a sermon (digging information
from his vast knowledge archives) to a co passenger even if the audience is
remotely interested.
Ma
and Paa
The elderly couple, happy being themselves,
and asking people politely if they need any help or information.
Ms./Mrs.
Haughty
A GK 1 resident and the worst victim of
retail…would wear everything from a recent buy at DLF Emporio and look down
upon the other low life with no fashion sense. They have a tone-of-voice thing.
Ms./Mrs. Haughty talks down to the employee and treats him or her as
subservient and subhuman. She stops just short of using the “royal we” when she
speaks about herself.
The
Creeps
Need I say more…they choose their targets
and stare. Lucky if you are yet to encounter one.
The
Easy Going
This is a cool customer who, right off the
bat, identifies airline staff by name tags and genuinely greets the person or
fellow passenger with a smile. Someone who rolls with the punches and
understands that a thunderstorm over the airport is going to cause a flight to
be delayed and that it’s nobody’s fault. Someone who is actually relaxing while traveling.
