Up in the Air

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.