The Airport …

Today … i went to the airport … to hang out with my peeps … Haa … not really … i went to have lunch … i know i know  that’s just as bad as hangin out at the airport with my peeps … but i did go there for lunch … it was on the way .. and i had to eat … it was either that or KFC/Pizza Hut across the road from the airport …

As i got to the parking gate i see this poor woman hanging out of her car window trying to get the ticket from the machine … she had stopped the car too far from the thing and was really struggling to reach … the thing is .. she never thought about opening the door and getting down … she insisted on reaching from the window … so for the first couple of minutes she was trying with one hand then she decided to to try with two … thats when she realized the car was still in D … so the minute she let go of the breaks the car moved to the front… now she was even further down and out … she put the gear in P and now both hands OUT of the window hanging out with her le7af flaying in the air … i could see that she was no longer on her seat… she was balancing out of the window …  i couldnt take any more … i got out of my car

OM: 7ajiya … ana ajeeb el tathkra .. (relax old lady .. i will get it for you)

she struggled to get back into the car … i gave her the ticket and walked back to my car … now the SHDs in the back started honking their horns …

side note: Most people on the road here are Silly Honk a Donks (SHD) … they like to honk  for almost no reason … i really dont understand what the motivation is behind this kind of behavior … at the traffic lights, the minute they turn yellow people start honking … why? .. one person starts honking and then the other honks back and suddenly you have 15 people honking at each other … none of them really knowing why they are honking … then you have the “hey, What’s up” honk, this is a light single honk with a wave or a nod … and you have the “we are going to a wedding” honk , this is usually a rythem based honk repeated over and over again … and lets not forget the “we won the football match” honk, this is a series of randon honk usually in threes …

Finally, i get to park my car and walk to the arrivals area… as i walk past the parking lot  i see a couple of these pilot dudes in the uniforms … laughing  and hi 5ing each other … and walking to the bus..

Can someone please.. please .. PLEASE ..  explain to me why these guys agree to dress up like that ? what are those hats for? and the golden stripes? what is with the stripes? do you get more stripes if your a better pilot?? and what is in the briefcase? maps? newspapers?  why do they carry a briefcase? does a pilot really need a briefcase? but what i find really disturbing is that pilots actually think the uniforms looks good … does it look good?

ok – so now i am inside the arrivals area … looking around … the place is buzzing … a bunch pf Pakistanis are holding hands and walking around … many of the hotel people holding up name boards… people hugging and kissing each other … tourists waiting around … white, brown, and yellow people mingling at Costa … some Asians sleeping on the chairs at the end … a couple of Africans having Chinese food … and a Lebanese guy eating two pizzas …

nice .. its buzzing… its active … it seems that people do actually hang out here …

My lunch choices were: Dairy Queen, Magic Wok, Papa John’s and Costa .. i went with DQ … why not? I order with the short Omani dude at the counter ..and tell him that i dont want any tomatoes or ketchup in my burger …

side note: this is a neat trick i learned .. if you want to get a freshly made burger at any fast food place ask them to remove or add something to the sandwich … that way they have to make a fresh one for you … its takes bit longer to make .. but its in good shape when you get it…

So when its was time to pay the Indian guy that ordered before me comes back and starts demanding to know why he was charged more than what is written on the picture …

“number 4 .. one rial 800 hundred … why taking more? vy? vy?”

so it takes a couple of minutes to explain the 4% tax and how its calculated… so now its my turn to pay … the DQ guy looks at me and says “staff?” …

staff? what is he talking about? what do i say? am i staff ?

OM: Aiwa … staff …

DQG: okaik  … 1.530

OM: okaik !

As he gives me back my change, i realize i just got a 30% discount, in the euphoria of my happiness  I shockingly find myself saying that i dont want the 70 bz change .. but he didnt hear me and he gave me back a 100% bz 🙂

so far so good, right? worng .. after waiting for 10 minutes for my food .. DQG comes to me and asks if i dont want ketchup and tomatoes in my burger … after i confirm the order to him i wait another 10 minutes for my food … by the time i left the airport i had spent a good 25 miniutes waiting and watching people … it took two guys working at costa 25 minutes to eat french fries … and two old white dudes in suites sat sharing a bag of walker crisps …

i didnt realize how much time i had spent at the airport until it was time to pay for the parking … 900 bz it cost me .. whatever i had saved  on the food i had to pay in parking fees …

maybe next time i should park in the long term parking lot …