Queue me!

Ceiling reflection of the queue

Leaving Bangkok on Monday morning was a long queue of people lined up for processing through immigration at Suvarnabhumi Airport. I was somewhere in the middle when I looked up and saw our reflection in the mirrored ceiling. At the head of the line, there were 3 officers processing approximately 200 people.  It took more than an hour to shuffle from the end of the queue to stand in front of one of these official functionaries. With nothing better to do, I calculated it took him/her an average of 40 seconds to process one traveler!

When you have a delay at the start of the journey, it creates a ripple down the line. At Narita where I was to change planes, I arrived with less than an hour for boarding the flight to Newark. JAL sent a representative to meet me and expedite me through security. I got to go to the head of the queue. After that, I still had to go to another terminal, get a boarding pass, and find the gate. I made it just as boarding commenced. Nevertheless, the flight arrived in Newark 10 minutes earlier than scheduled. Go figure.

It was sunny but cold when I arrived, then it got dark and cold in a hurry. Nevertheless, I'm glad to be back in New York, all set to work hard(er) on Big D!