May 9, 2010
I am writing this post sitting in Munich international airport "willkommen". I seriously don't want to get struck any longer as it is my birthday at the stroke of midnight (just 3 more hours left in India) and I am turning 30. I also don't want to here but this is the time I am in the process re-building & catching up on all the time that I have lost with my wife over the last month and half.
Anyways, there were many things in the last month or so which was well within my control which I failed to realize and let the personal situation completely go nuts and the current situation is something, this is something which is way beyond what anybody can do. When the nature takes control, there is just so much anybody can do, leave alone me. So right now the airport here is completely chaotic, all the flights which were supposed to fly out of Munich to the various cities in & around Europe stands cancelled as of 5pm and there are certain international flights which have been delayed like the one on which I am supposed to fly out to Delhi. We have no clue as to why they have not cancelled it as yet, I am sure only the aviation ministry & ATC can answer this question. I also heard that the airport has been closed down that means no new passengers are being let into the airport as there are already too many inside which effectively means that I am not flying out tonight L and spending my 30th birthday all alone
I started writing this note without any assistance but as the time wears out on me, I am turning out to be a pure German. I have a 500ml beer glass in my hand, it is a great thing to see how it is served, picture perfect, here you go…
Germans drink these in few minutes and I was holding this up for few hours ;)
I am in a terminal where most of the flights are operated by Lufthansa with very few flights being operated by the other Star Alliance partners. Lufthansa staff, if I may state do a real lousy job.
- They are too slow in cancelling the flights and re-booking them into some other later flight. It has been more than 3 hours and the lines have not come down a bit.
- They don't seem to be cognizant of the fact that they are hundreds of anxious passengers waiting to know what is going to happen to their travel plan and they are doing it at their own pace. May be even they are confused as to the flight in which they need to be re-booked as it not sure as to when the skies would be opened again
- Also, the services that they provide are no minimal. E.g – number of water stations, fruit stations are so limited and filled with so less quantity that it is gone before anyone could get their hands to it
- They are also no courteous. I remember this incident so well that there is a vast difference to the way Germans in general behave. A pregnant lady with a small baby asked a steward direction to the gate from a steward and he so coldly said "read the signboards" and that's it.. How could someone possibly do that? Is this just the German thing is it
Long queues in the service center, the guy whom I have circled is really helpful, great customer service
Not a great site, most of the flights have been cancelled long queue which was never ending, most of them look confused & lost
But why is all this happening? Did the volcano in Ireland just break loose? Is the nature really playing it part?
Who as all the answers?? None, according to me! But I am sure the environmentalists around the world now have new ammunition to take it against the political and corporate superpowers that all this is happening because of their careless behavior of polluting the world for their own benefit. Are these are the real signs of global warming and was this bound to happen to give signs that we need to save the world from being deteriorated any more. It is time to put on the green cap and become environment friendly. Save the nature, save the world and save the people? I have always debated with my better half and we end up the conversation with the statement that nature has its own way of taking care of things. They have created human beings, they have given the mind of innovation to them and I am sure they have their own way of maintaining the balance and this planet going forward.
But all these dynamics, how am I being impacted with all this going around? Really, in a very small way but the personal impact seems to be big. For the last 5 years, since the time I have known her, we have always ensure that we spend our birthdays together, wherever I may be, I have made a point to come back to her for this day. Even this time around, I made sure that I didn't extend my stay in the states (as there were requests for it) just to ensure that I spend this day with my beloved wife. I definitely know that my 1st half of the birthday is going to be on the air as per the current plan and hopefully I can each before the day is over.
How else am I impacted? Financially? Is it really a big deal? No it is not. So let's not even get there..
How else? I think there is also a positive impact, as I am going thru this I will come out as a more matured person who can handle these situations of flight plan disruptions. If I get struck in this town for anytime greater than a day then I would like to get a chance to visit the city of Munich and learn a bit about their culture (esp. their style of how to drink so beers ;) at such great speed and so many of them at one go) and the way they love soccer and also learn little bit about the various cuisines they like and eat (best part) and finally learn about the city. It would also be interesting to see as to how I can survive in a city where I don't know the native language. People here have told me that most people understand English and it shouldn't be that difficult.
So just came to know that the flight has been delayed for little longer.. 11pm right now. Lets wait and see as to what happens. More later!! Chao..
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