This post, almost didn't make it and thus would have come to an end my daily posting streak that as of last night stood at 171 for today was a travelling day and I am sharing because it just shows how an act of kindness can make somebody's Day.
I got up at 2am local time and drunk coffee and pottered around doing those last things that need doing including checking that I have my documents, then rechecking them and then checking again - just to be sure. I had said goodbye to the boys and while Older_Rah pretty much had grasped what was going on (and we even made a calendar to help him count down the days until I come home) it was probably beyond Younger_Rah's realistic comprehension.
About quarter of an hour before I left Mama_Rah got up to say goodbye which was really nice and then at 3am and on time I jumped into a taxi and took the 20 minute or so journey to the airport. I quickly identified the desk and then...
I saw the queue
I am not exaggerating when I say there must have been at least 1000 people in front of me. The queue was so long that not only did it stretch right across the terminal building but it then doubled back on itself to form a tight and slightly squidgy U shape. I have never seen such a massive queue at an airport.
It was so long because it was a single queue for all of the flights being handled by Wizzair, the carrier.
A few minutes later a girl who had been standing just half a step behind me asked if she was in the right queue. and after a brief exchange she understood that she was. She was on the verge of complete panic about getting through on time as she was flying half an hour earlier than me with her destination being Madrid.
We talked a bit and exchanged names as we made steady progress and the queue wasn't as bad as it could have been because Wizz had 8 desks open. It still took about half an hour and I let her go before me because you never know a few seconds might make a difference...
As it turned out she was suddenly behind me again just as I finished and she had renewed panic because she needed to go and get a printed boarding pass from another desk.
Meanwhile I carried on to the x-ray machine for hand luggage and the personal scanner and found myself in a similar queue to the previous one but maybe not quite as long. Progress was steady, but hardly Earth-moving and I must have been there for a quarter of an hour slowly shuffling forwards, when suddenly I saw the same girl, looking rather harried and just about to join the end of the queue.
"Hey Marianne!" I called out to her. "I haven't seen you for ages. Come join me"
I gestured her over and greeted her warmly and with a gentle tactile touch on her arms (remember we were practically strangers) and suddenly she was in the queue. We went through more or less at the same time, but then I got held up by the scanner, probably owing to my metal and ceramic hip and I never saw her again...
...but I would like to think the direct consequence of my actions is that I helped her trim 20-25 minutes off her time and gave her a bit more peace of mind.
I have often been the recipient of the kindness of strangers so it was nice to give something back.
Moving on, everything when smoothly although the flight was 30 minutes late in both taking off and landing in the UK. I needed to catch two trains, with a transfer in the middle but had built a couple of hours contingency into my plan so all was fine. I needed to do a couple of things anyway... and concerning one of them I will write more tomorrow.
So finally I got to my destination at about 12.15 local time, which equates to 1.15 back home. It had taken 10 hours in total but now for the next 12 days or so I am back to where I originally came from.
As always stay safe and well my friends.
