Everybody understands that the people serving us at these places undergo various stress levels because the people they encounter are diversified. But that’s no reason to be arrogant or “Do I care?” stance.
Today happened to be my weekend and as usual I was sleeping dead when suddenly at mid day I get a call from Dubai and in half sleep I hear the familiar voice of Baba... Now that jolts me to reality... He is not calling to tell a HI during a normal transit flight… He is stranded in the airport…
The reasons for his plight were
- He thought of going home for winter vacation (Next time try to go on 9/11... ur sure to find the flights empty and bookings easier…)
- He took a transit flight (As far as possible try take a straight one… but in case the bucks really matter then former is acceptable)
- He took EMIRATES, which takes the transit via Middle East i.e., Dubai (Buddy taking a transit via Europe is fine… u get to see chicks... but middle east… did u think u can catch a glimpse of future osama?)
- He carried some 100 bucks with him (Rule 314 of Air Travel: Carry sufficient cash… And if taking a transit always take an amount with which you can always book another flight and leave that goddamned place)
- He smiles a lot and tries to be polite with all… (I guess its time u saw some American movies and all those great cowboy westerns to deal with people who are not polite with u)
- He is still single… in spite of all the charm and the great “Baba” smile (Can’t tell much on this aspect since the whole gang expect a few are still in this status… Many people have not yet realized that u can sometimes even get a F117 jet to drop you at the South Pole if you have a good girl standing beside you…)
He boarded the EMIRATES flight yesterday from the great United States of America and landed in Dubai today morning... His connecting flight was in the night and he expected to have a good time in Airport till then… Alas it worked the other way around. To his astonishment he finds that his outbound ticket to India stands cancelled. So that meant that he was standing in an airport with no visa to enter the country and no ticket to take him to this destination. It was an alien nation and the only person I guess he knew in that country was me. So there comes the call to wake me up from my Friday slumber…
He asked whether it was possible for me to arrange for a visa or a ticket… The issue was that it was Friday and a public holiday and till Sunday it was not possible to arrange for a visa from my side. The other issue was that I was staying in Abu Dhabi, which is some 170 kms away from Dubai. Just grabbed a jean and T-shirt and called up some people at my office who were kind enough to arrange for a car to take me to Dubai because it was Friday and midday… The country kind of shuts down because of the Friday prayers…. My driver who happened to be from Oman missed his holy prayers and took me to Dubai at an incredible speed. We finally reached the airport and there starts my adventure
The only way my friend and me could speak was that he could call to my mobile from a booth inside. So when I reached there I needed to inform somehow that I have reached and he needed to call me now… For that I first went to some “Marabha” service available there. They were the guys to whom you pay and they take care of your people inside. Usually used for old, disabled, young people who are traveling. I went and contacted them stating the situation. The lady at the front desk smiling said I cannot help you maybe you can fill up that form and stand in that queue for the enquiry. I was bonkers and asked another “kind” gentleman. He was “kind” enough to direct me to the passport information counter.
There was a similar “kind” gentleman who was having a good chat with somebody in the phone and after I were standing there for some good 5 minutes showing no intention of moving out he turned to us asking “kindly” with a great “smile” in his face “what do u want?” Even before I could finish he told us that he cannot help us and asked us to contact us the customer service in the Civil Aviation counter. I asked him the directions and he seemed to have not heard us. So getting the directions from other people I finally landed up there.
Thankfully I really had one person who helped us out… He arranged to have a public announcement asking to contact the help desk. He also told that he might not be able to help us and only the airlines can arrange for a visa.
So I went to EMIRATES ticketing counter. I met the best gentleman of the whole day. Sitting there he had a grin and an expression on his face as if something was stuck up in his arse. He said no tickets available. He cannot arrange for a visa. He cannot provide accommodation. He smiling gave a look, which asked “Do I Care?”. So I went to my crescendo shouting at that ass. I made it clear to him that an airline cannot pick up a passenger and drop him in a country where he does not have a visa and also not provide him with an outbound ticket. If they were to do that they should not have boarded him in the first place. Finally somebody who seemed to be little more polite came down. He too had the same look but still he was little good mannered to say that he will look into it and see what he can do. He said if I can get a hotel booking and an airline ticket then my friend would be able to get a transit visa. This info had been already communicated to him inside. So went to the customer service made another announcement and finally he called.
So after speaking to him I went to a ticket sales counter and managed to get tickets to India through Thai Airways and Srilankan Airlines. The ticket sales counter guy said that he can give me the ticket and my friend inside can collect it or I can arrange for some delivery. So after blocking the tickets, I went back to airport information desk and they with lot of reluctance that I can contact the airport police in this regard and I did that. Having an Arabic driver helped me in this regard because that cop didn’t understand one word of English I spoke. Thanks to my driver he said that he might be able to help. He told that in such a way that it looked as if I was not standing there at all and he was just waving at the air. (But I can’t shout at him unless I wanted to take free Briyani for rest of my life). Then went to the EMIRATES counter to check up the status up there. But they still maintained the same stand and we got into another bout of loud shouts… Asking him to try again I decided to wait.
So everything arranged I just needed him to call me up now to give him the details. And the wait was quite long. So I went twice to that customer service guy who made the announcement. I doubt whether my friend actually heard any of them. After a long wait he called up and told that he made a little breakthrough with EMIRATES. He was been put up in priority for the Indian flight. I also told him about the backup booking. After 30 minutes he called up again telling me that he finally got the EMIRATES to give him a ticket and he’s flying to India at 9 pm flight… J
That settled… with a little disappointment that I won’t be spending the next two days with him here in UAE, I said I would be seeing him on next Friday (if nothing of this sort happens to me in Colombo).
Before leaving the airport went to thank the two guys who helped me in this ordeal, the customer service guy in the civil aviation counter (when he saw me approach he was just shaking his head as if he won’t make another announcement) and the other guy at the ticket sales counter.
So we finally hit the road and were stuck up in the evening traffic of Dubai and cursing everybody we hit the expressway to Abu Dhabi…
The problem with the service industry is not just here in UAE, India but everywhere. I don’t know what is the reason for this degradation of service. Is it the huge growing crowd or is it humans are just losing the touch of kindness. Are we just going to be just inhumane to other people’s sufferings? This is not the problem just in airports and train stations but everywhere in hospitals, governmental offices, police stations, shops, taxis….
What happened to the golden smile and the helping hand? Have the hearts shrinked with the world?
