It was past 10pm when I walked in to the security chk at the Logans domestic terminal. Strange, because, I was flying to India via London and cannot comprehend why the flight was from that terminal. Anyway, that is not a big matter of concern. I am very much used to the, sometimes highly inappropriate rules and instructions slammed by the TSA authorities. I was lightly amused but greatly annoyed by the total body scan done . This is the first time I've undergone that. And I wonder even after that, why the passenger is frisked/groped by the officials. Now what is that they trust or dont trust is a big puzzle!!. All aboard, overhead cabins shut, doors closed. Ok, all fine. But the flight never took off, even 30 minutes past the scheduled departure time. And the crew never bothered to make any announcement regarding the delay.
I had a middle seat allotted and it wasnt very pleasant traveling with a farting bugger on one side and a smelly stinker on the other. The lady on my right was having a shawl around her, and whenever she opened it to adjust it, it was emancipating an odour that could bring out the breakfast you had 2 days ago. At around 2am food was served, which I declined, but my companions were duly served with what they asked, a meat in gravy, and beef curry or something. Oh boy!! the plight of people like me under such condition is pathetic. Think they must avoid allotting seats for pure vegetarians/vegans along with the general meat eating crowd!!!. That way you can be spared from the shock of having a plate of some Chicken dish, in the middle of night thrust in your hands while you are half asleep... Other than this it was a wonderful flight...
We are s'ppose to land at 10.30 local time London, but we made it only after 11am. Then again the ordeal of reaching the terminal 5 thru the transit claimed another 20 minutes. My flight to Chennai was at 1pm and I had literally no time to use even the rest room ..once the immigration at London was over, surprisingly, no frisking, not even the metal detector.. just a walk thru, I was a lil exasperated, when I saw the terminal for my flight. It was in the C , which again required a transit, this time the tube. Again the climb up/down, repeat at C..All done, reached the terminal C at 12 noon around. I precisely had 15 minutes before they call for boarding. The lobby was crowded, and I found an empty corner two gates away, to finish my packed lunch. Unlike the last time where I ended up with a soda, instead of water, ( mislead by the label that read, 'sparkling spring water'), I cautiously asked the counter girl to get me a bottle of water. She gave me a weird look and picked up the bottle for me. 'A pound and thirty for that'. 'Oh sure, here is my 2 dollar, I gave her the notes, for which she said 'I shall give you the balance in pound denominations only'. 'No probs' I smiled. Gave me a local daily as compliment. Not bad. The flight to Chennai was smooth, the food palatable (but the quantity served was ridiculously small!!) and drinks abundant. I can never understand the funda behind the idea of serving one teaspoon of curd/yogurt during lunch, and a big tub of yogurt at the early hrs, along with a pint of coffee!!! Most relieving thing was, the seat next to me was vacant..just that.
