Prologue
So it happened like this that I was living my life and minding my business as usual and out of the blue my manager sends me a mail saying that he has sent my on-site visit for approval and while i was reading that mail and trying to get to terms with what I was reading because I was totally unaware of this situation and I was planning to send somebody from my team if any such thing happens and there comes another mail saying that my trip was approved and asking me how fast I could get on a plane. Wow, did you see that, one single sentence, all that in once single sentence. Anyway I was always willing to travel on-site so I told my manager that I would start after my son's birthday and this gave me a week's window.
If you knew the relationship I share with God you would have already guessed the airlines I was going to travel, yes it is the same airlines i was sarcastic about and had to travel in, last year. Qatar, Thank You God, you remembered!!! I knew there was no point frowning over it and being a guy who would rather try and improve things than sit and worry about them started to think on how the situation can be improved. A little introduction of my wife and her career. She has been handling corporate travels for an MNC for more than 4 years now and is in good terms with most of the airlines. Suddenly I was full of Ideas, well just one Idea. I challenged my wife, I knew requesting would not work, to upgrade me to business class and that I would gift her something that she would never imagine. She actually took the bait and started working on it.
The day before my flight she tells me that she could upgrade my seat to business class from Hyderabad to Doha and I was like that's just 4 hours, couldn't you get the upgrade for second leg of the journey, Doha to Washington D.C.!! She was like be happy with what you got!! Then she explains to tell how she got me a VIP check-in because I was "supposedly" a Big Shot "Program Director" who frequently travels Lufthansa but decided to try Qatar for a change. I was like I can be a Program Director. I check my status online and it still showed me in Economy class and inquired my wife concernedly to which she annoyingly explains how the process goes and how the counters are updated with my "New " information and the online info doesn't matter anymore.I have to tell you that I have been traveling for the past 7 years and have been married for 6 years but not once did my wife come to the airport to see me off or pick me up and this time she decides to come, that is when I thought something in my life is going to change drastically.
It's Not My Life Part -1
Once in the Airport I got to skip all the lengthy queues of economy class and walk the red Carpet of Business Class. From the minute I handed over my itinerary everything changed, the desk clerk was very courteous and an attendant is sent to handle my luggage and another guy to fill up my information. Then the supervisor comes and wishes me shares his knowledge of my traveling Lufthansa frequently and expresses his gratitude that I have chosen their Airlines. The the guy who filled my forms escorts me to the immigration and then to the VIP lounge, wishes me Bon Voyage and leaves me. So I sit there and reflect on the things that have happened in the last 15 minutes wondering, well just wondering. Then I get into the flight where I was escorted to my extra large recliner seat and was offered a welcome drink. I have started to realize why business class passengers are boarded separately and the use of curtains that separate business and economy class. After the airplane took off, I was offered a choice of breakfast and it was not dumped on your tray like it is done in economy class. First they bring you the drink then the main course and then a dessert. Not to mention the seats were much wider and reclined completely and it was amazingly comfortable. I was enjoying it to the core when it struck me that I have to get back to the economy seats for the second leg of journey which was 14 hours long and that got me into thinking. With these thoughts I landed in Doha airport and the business class passengers were taken in a separate bus to the terminal. I cleared my security clearance twice and arrived at the gate.
It's Not My Life Part - 2
Other than blogging I read blogs that are entertaining, “Doing Jalsa and Showing Jilpa” happens to be one of those and KrishAshok happens to be a frequent flyer and keeps posting about his travelling experiences and microwaved airline food. In of those he mentions about how he is a frequent flyer and how he approached the ticket counter and asked for an upgrade and got it. That struck me and struck me at the right moment, which was very important. Also the words of my wife on how my information is updated in their database struck me at the same time. So with all the confidence when I approached the counter I told them that I requested for an upgrade and it was confirmed up to Doha but not up to Washington D.C. They quickly enter my record locator in their systems and they get something saying I have been authorized for upgrade but upgrade was only done till Doha. So they talk between themselves, pull me out of the line and ask me to wait. The guy informs me courteously that there are two business class seats and if they don’t turn up within 15 minutes they are going to upgrade me. With the kind of luck I have I did not set any hopes on it but decided to wait. I waited for 20 minutes and one guy turns up and I get the upgrade. I was pretty amused, overjoyed, pleased with myself and went to the pickup area for the flight. There is a bus waiting and asking if there are any business class passengers left out and when I go forward, he takes me, an me alone in the bus to the airplane and I take the stairs to the business class which is in the front of the plane watching economy passengers cramming on to the stairs at the end of the flight. Now this flight was bigger and better than the earlier one and so was the service. The seats even had massagers in them with multiple functions. i had a choice of selecting some premium dishes for lunch. They gave me a track suit and when I changed into it, the flight attendant took my clothes, folded then and put them in a closet. I was like if I was travelling first class maybe they would even wash and iron my clothes. More than anything the toilets were wider and empty most of the time unlike the toilets in economy. I wanted to just sit in there for the sake of enjoying the luxury of a spacious toilet. The fourteen hours passed before I even noticed and I landed in Washington D.C. At immigration the officer talked to me in a language that my brain was not even tuned to listen and I had to ask him to which he asks me again in Telugu on how many days am I going to stay and the reason for visiting U.S. I was looking at him with utter disbelief and he was like oh well go ahead enjoy your stay. That was the silver lining to everything that happened until then. I was standing at the baggage carousel recollecting wondering whatever happened in the last twenty four hours and was telling myself, this is not my life, this is definitely not my life. I spent two days with family there and headed for Denver, my final destination.
Epilogue A.K.A Welcome to My life
Not to mention I had to take the economy class and I got the middle seat and I started thinking now this the life I am familiar with. Then the pilot announces that the plane will be descending to land in Denver airport and during the descent turbulence and cross winds hit the plane and the plane plummets and shakes violently making me feel sick. I started to breathe heavily and people around me got concerned and it looked like the longest time taken for a flight to land. As soon as it landed, I got up and was feeling very weak, I gathered enough strength to take the cabin baggage and walk out of gate in a rush to get to the cab service. I heard my name being announced at the gate and realized that I picked up somebody else’s cabin baggage, so I had to drag myself back to the gate and apologized to the guy but he didn’t look like he cared. Then I observed that he broke the handle of my cabin luggage but was too weak to say anything. So I dragged myself to the terminal to the cab service desk and I had 25 minutes before the cab picked me up. So I went to the baggage carousel to pick my luggage, my baggage arrived soon enough and I had 15 minutes to the aisle where the cab picks up people. There were two problems. I was so weak that I crashed into the chair nearby, I needed a 5 dollar note for the trolley but all I had were 100$ notes. I told myself that I needed 10 minutes to be OK and then I threw up. One of the janitors there called a paramedic but I did not need any medication. Needless to say I missed the cab so I go to the cab service desk again and they tell me that I have one hour before the next cab arrives. I ask them for change, take a trolley load my luggage, go to the restroom, get some water, rest for some time and went to the aisle 15 minutes before time. Then I had to wait for the cab for 30 minutes in -6 Degrees and finally get into the cab. Just before dozing off in the cab I told myself, yes this sounds more like my life, Hi there, how are you?? I missed you, and we were back together again.
