first time in my life. It was hilarious - she called my name on the PA
system just as I was walking past her. Spooky timing. The long and the
short of it was that I'd been checked in by a trainee and she had
forgotten to give me the boarding pass for my connecting flight. To my
shame, I'd never even noticed: I thought I was supposed to be a
seasoned traveller.
Anyway, this first hiccup did not bode well for my bags arriving
safely in Dublin. Was this going to be the third Christmas where my
suitcase got sent to Timbuktu instead of coming home at the same time
as me? Luckily, I fretted for nothing and all luggage arrived intact.
In fact, my bag was like the fourth one off the plane, so more
trainees in future, please.
Unfortunately, while everything up to London was smooth sailing,
Heathrow once again proved itself to be a pain of an airport. I have
consciously avoided making a connection through LHR for the last few
years as it always seems to be jammers. I don't know what I was
thinking this time around as it ended up being no different: a two
hour delay due to runway congestion and my poor sister left waiting on
the Dublin side with no notification of the delay from the airline. Oh
well, at least I got here.
And what were the first words that greeted me when I set foot back on
this emerald isle, this land of saints and scholars - F@&k Off! (said
by one airport attendant to another as I stepped off the plane and
onto the ramp to bring me to the airport terminal). Charming!
Anyway, I don't want to be the immigrant who comes back and tells
everyone how messed up their home country is and how great everything
is in their adopted land, but please allow me this one mini rant: what
is it with the service culture in this part of the world? "Customer is
King" - my giddy aunt! Both in London Heathrow and Dublin airports, I
could not get over how little attention workers paid to the customer.
The desk workers I encountered didn't even break off their chat about
their weekend conquests to acknowledge me as a customer, never mind
make eye contact or say thank you or any other form of politeness. And
the amount of slacking... The number of people I saw just huddled
around in groups just slacking off and not actually doing anything. I
know I am spoiled coming from the land of impeccable customer service
and a crazy work ethic, but come on people - have a little pride in
your jobs, please.
End of rant and apologies for any tedium induced. So now, to get down
to the serious business of enjoying my time off.
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