Monday, April 21, 2008

Oops... too much

Oh all right. So I was persuaded to publicly confess my rather shameful performance with respect to missing a recent flight from Shanghai back to Hong Kong. The discussion stemmed from me trying to paint a picture that missed flights occurred far and few in between. However, upon evaluation, this was probably the fourth in my lifetime, with a certain flight to Singapore almost making a fifth. (Probably my most stressful flight experience ever, especially since it was for vacation.) Now, for business trips to China, I know that the flights are frequent enough to/from Shanghai and Beijing, and I have enough flexibility over my schedule to allow for a stress-free wait for reticketing or on standby, provided that I make important personal commitments -- last Friday, I had adequate cushion before having to teach at University of Hong Kong so that as fine.

So that's my confession for last Friday. Then, this morning came about when I got to the airport on time for my flight... if it were really scheduled at 900. Instead, it was flight KA 900 departing at 800. OOPS. I guess I should have paid more attention to all of my electronic ticket, my itinerary, the online check-in page, and my discussion among coworkers to meet in Beijing at 11:30 -- I remembered this discussion, but thought 12:30 instead of 11:30. But regardless, it was a usual calm experience, heading off to the nearest Pacific Coffee for my breakfast after once again registering for stand-by, with just a slight complication the one time I neglected to print my e-ticket. With the torrential rains this weekend, a number of flights were cancelled and so, for this morning, all flights were full and I couldn't get on the next flight (this was a first for me). So finally, instead of trying for standby on the next flight, I just reticketed for a later flight this afternoon; I even considered going back to the office to take the last flight into Beijing. But all in all, I departed at about 4pm and got some solid work done this morning at the lounge.

Anyway, I think this episode shows (a) my auto-pilot mode when it comes to flying now.. just don't change my itinerary from my norm, (b) morning flights don't work for me; I think the last time I flew in the morning before this month was a while ago.. I should just stick to that, (c) my nonchalant nature regarding missing flights is getting to an unhealthy level of concern, and (d) too much flying make Gladys go crazy. :P Hope there won't be any more flying before coming home soon!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

No comments: