Think before you talk...

As I read Dost’s blog on an airline staff, suddenly I missed my days at the airport a few years back…Do u guys know, that I have been once an Airline staff for some years…???Oh, yeah, I think missed saying that…Yeah, I have had the fun of working at an airport and handling all sort of passengers with 1001 problems…the person who helped most became the passenger’s friend and the rest the enemies…that was the style those days…

The most common problem was the Excess baggage problems…On a daily basis we would see passengers coming in with baggages that weighed much above their allowance and then they start requesting which would turn to pleading and then to sympathy and then to frustration and finally anger…lol…

I would tell you about a funny incident that happened during those days…many have told me that I don't look like a South Indian in my Uniform…most passengers mistook me as a North Indian or atleast a Goan…Even when I was handling flights to South Indian states, I mostly spoke in English with everybody, but still used the regional language for the sake of the most illiterate people, who could understand Nothing of English…I had to clearly explain to them the way to their boarding gates and what should they be doing there after to reach the aircraft…They were always so happy to find someone like me in a foreign land who helped them so happily…Yeah, I know..I am sweet…hehe!!!

Ok, now…apart from such cases…I always spoke in English and never gave any idea to any of the passengers that I was from their place…as that would always gave them freedom to lure me to allow them excess baggages…the rate of requesting would be so high in such cases…Neither could I resist too much pleading nor could I help everybody...So, my English and my looks helped me stay as a North Indian most of the time for such passengers…

So one day…I was handling a Kerala bound flight…there was a couple of young boys who would be of the age of 26-30…Young and handsome too…lol, my colleagues were surely eyeing them and passing comments too…Luckily, they stood in the queue in front of me and slowly reached my counter…The first passenger, Dilip, handed over his travel docs gave me a cool smile and kept his baggage on the scales…OH GREAT, He has Excess…Now, the sweetness in me has to go off and I have to make him unhappy by telling him something that he wouldn’t love to hear…lol!!!

I looked at his face…and I knew, he too was expecting the worst from me…I said… “Excess...”…and then he started on (something I was already used to)… “Madam, please…its just 7 kilos…leave it na…You are also an Indian..you can do that…”…After much NO and suggestions and excuses…I asked him to remove 4 kilos and put it into his light handbaggage…I allowed him the 3 kilos to go off…That was very well under my allowed limit…He was happy…He expressed his thanks and took his travelling stuff and moved back…smiling at his friends…

Next came his friend, I am not sure what his name was…think it was Rajesh…a repeat telecast…an excess baggage, but this time, it was more than 10-12 kilos and he already had a heavy handbaggage…I could be of not much help other than charge him for atleast 7kilos…The coaxing and pleading and requests happened for sometime..but I was helpless..I had to charge him…while I proceeded to issue the excess baggage ticket…he started conversing with his friends in their regional language, which was my Mother tongue too…Little did they know that…

Rajesh : Dey, Dilip…See yaar, she’s charging me excess…
Dilip : Haha, What to do…If my glamour helps me…Naturally, she would let me go…As she liked me..
Rajesh: Arey, I will tell her…what u told about her…I will also tell, you purposefully came to this counter to ask her name and get her details…

(I was trying hard to hold onto my laugh…I was used to such flirting passengers...But here, I was pitying them... as I had already decided to shock them by talking in their language at the …How cruel na…Anyways, point to be noted was, I was taking more time for this passenger, just to hear what else they were going to say…)

Dilip: Oh, u go tell her…Then I can openly ask her details...
Rajesh: Owwwwwww…Dey, u marry her, then we can take any amount of baggage with us…Do u want me to tell ur mother...anyways…if u want I can ask her opinion... (and he turned to me…Dilip was like nudging him to keep quiet…)

Anyways, I dint give either of them a chance to talk…before that…I excused myself to their conversation and handed over all the documents and explained to them the way to boarding gates…I could see both of them trying hard to hold on to their giggles…as even I was trying to do the same…they turned to go…and then in our common regional language I said…

“Excuse me Rajesh…Don’t think, I left his excess baggage bcoz I am interested in your friend or liked him…This is my duty to work and that too work with ethics…I have done the maximum that was under my authority for both of you…So next time, you try coming without excess baggage and then maybe I can be more nice to you also…Else I can’t waiver this much excess even for my Parents…”

Hahahahahaa….still, I remember both of their faces…As soon as I finished saying this, I heard a sudden laughter among the passengers in the nearby queues..naturally they had heard the conversation between these two guys and also my Final Blast….but for the boys…they were like Haaaaaaaaa…I could see the helplessness and embarrassment in their face…

“Madam…sorry…really sorry…we didn’t know, u were from South India…It was just tht…we had excess and…Shey…we are so ashamed…Sorry madam…please don’t take us wrong…we were just joking…” and so on…

I was like.. “Its ok..I was also joking…”…but couldn’t stop laughing…so badly, that even the airline staff came near me and asked what’s the matter…When he heard of the news, he also broke into a loud laughter…

Till date, I can never forget these two guys…God knows where are they today…its been almost 4-5 years…but I am sure, even they would never forget me ever…and would never even talk in their regional language in front of another person who doesn’t understand it…I am damn sure, from that day onwards…they would surely remember the saying ‘Look before you Leap’ with a twist…

“Think before you talk…”

NB: Later, the airline staff had passed this funny incident even to the staffs at the boarding gates and when these two boys reached the boarding gates, they asked them… “So, when are you bringing your mother to marry that girl…”….hahaah!!! It seems, they were like so embarrassed and wriggling in shame…and was blaming each other for their idiotic behavior…