Almost didnt make it !!

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, we are just about to reach the cruising altitude here at 35000 feet. We had a slight delayed start from Frankfurt, because of one passenger, and had to pull the bags out at the last minute. But we should be able to make up any lost time, and reach Chennai as scheduled. ....

Well, i dont think many of you have had the privilege of being called out by the captain of the plane you are flying. I did. I was the passenger he was talking about. But what i was curious, now that i was sitting comfortably in 25C, was 'have they really pulled my bags out?'. If so, then that was going to be a nuisance after i land in Chennai.

Cut back to a few hours before this announcement.
After arriving in Frankfurt, i freshened up again at the lounge (thanks to all the frequent flying), and soon logged in, to the internet, to check my latest addiction, my blog, my virtual (do you guys really exist !!), and ofcourse other lame things like email from work, news, 2006 winter Olympics etc.

I had signed up for a 2hr internet session, which didn't seem to end. So out of the about 4 1/2 hrs i had to kill, i spend 3 hrs on the internet. Quite bit of the time was on work (after all, it pays the bills), then also managed to blog about this article about Amrit Singh, the daughter of Indian PM, and her efforts with ACLU.

Soon i realized that i have to go to my gate, B42, i noticed the local clock said 10:20am, and also the time on the flight list showed 10:40am for my flight. But for some reason, i was so sure that, that time was the boarding time, and so i had another 20+ minutes for the flight at 11am. So then i spent some time at the duty free shop, something i haven't done in ages. And this time, i even purchased some stuff and threw it into my carry-on bag. And then i walk to the gate, just about 100 meters away, and find it empty. If you have flown before, one thing you can forget is the crowd of 'desis' waiting to board the aircraft. And in the last 6-8 yrs, the crowd is mainly aged moms and dads travelling back and forth to look after the kids and help with delivery of their kids in the US. It appears that the human race, is the only one, where the young can never really fend for themselves.

So, smarting with my frequent flying experience and the seen it all attitude, i walk up to the gate attendant, and ask 'is there a gate change ?'
lufthansa agent: where are you flying ?
me: Chennai, and my boarding pass say B42
agent: are you mr. c k ?
i am impressed. infact, now my antenna goes up, and lot of sirens are ringing in my head. i am wondering what the !!!
agent: well, we were looking for you. you are the last one... run.. they are about to close the door

So thats the reference, my captain had to rub in. Of course, he was misinformed, i did make the flight, and they did-not pull my bags out. I got them safe and sound as always at 'the carousel' in Chennai.