Now the Gorse Fox remembers why short haul travel is such a chore. Leaving home at 9:30 he buzzed across to Gatwick and slid into the pre-booked car park. So far so good. Then he wandered into the terminal and encountered the queue to get through border control and security. Only two gates were open and the staff seemed to be in no particular hurry. GF had left what he considered to be adequate time - but was not expecting the backlog. Whilst he is moderately patient in a queue, the stress levels do rise when stupidity takes over from common sense. Eventually he was through having bitten his tongue to avoid the chance of some sarcastic comment escaping, unbidden. He used the App on his phone to hold the boarding pass - this worked well. He ended up putting it on both phones because of the frustration of continually having to type in the long password for the Starfleet-connected phone. If ever a company can make a device unusable - it's Starfleet security.
The flight was delayed, but eventually we were called to gate where a load of Italians rushed to front and beckoned all of their companions. Being British, we smirked at their antics, and muttered about manners and class. The delays lengthened and eventually the Italians gave up and went and sat down. The feeling of superiority among those of us left in the queue was palpable. Indeed, it was at that moment that the Gorse Fox had "Margot" (Penelope Keith) as a travelling companion. It somehow seemed so appropriate... and whilst she and her husband did not chat a great deal they did seem absolutely charming.
Finally GF arrived in Edinburgh well over an hour late. He had a really chatty taxi driver as he made his way into the City and tried to recognise the Starfleet building among the debris being thrown up by the tram development. What a good thing he didn't have any specific appointment time and managed to meet up with his colleague who would perform the various security checks necessary before he went on the client site.
GF wonders if it would really take that much longer to get here by train.
2 comments:
The train to Edinburgh would probably be a lot less stressful - for one thing I wasn't aware we now needed passports to go to Edinburgh! Is this one of Mr Salmand's latest anti-English impositions?
You don't actually need the passport - but you do need a suitable document to prove your identity to the airline when you check-in. Passport is just the easiest answer
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