Epic Fail _ Lufthansa Kuwait

I’ve heard about things being rough at the Kuwait Airport – I did not know that this could be attributed to some of the staff.

Two weeks ago, I finally got a chance to go for a much deserved break to Dubai and merrily went to the airport. I found my way to my counter and waited in line patiently, it started to take longer than expected and soon 15 minutes in queue became 30 – since no one seemed to be moving I asked one of the staff what was the issue and was informed that they had an issue with the conveyor belt. So sighing to myself I said well that’s life and continued waiting – My elderly parents were with me and they were getting really tired. An hour and a half later the queue had still not moved and the time to board the flight was getting quite close. Suddenly the queue started to surge forward and to the right and I moved up a bit ahead thinking a few more counters ahead must have opened up. At this point of time I could see the counter ahead of me and there were perhaps 8-10 passengers in front of me. A gentleman comes up next to me and starts shouting moving his hands “Move from here”, Move from here”. I looked at him quizzically and he stares right back and said it again “Move from here” I said “Well I’m waiting in line for my turn at the counter” to which he replies ” This is the Lufthansa counter, move from here”. I was perplexed so I said well I have been in line for 2 hours and it wasn’t the Lufthansa counter then and he just looked back and me and actually said NO! You cannot see, this is Lufthansa counter – Can’t you see?  I was totally taken aback by the tone of his voice and the fact that he was also a certified optician! The queue behind me were also listening in to the conversation . I asked him that if this is the Lufthansa counter why doesn’t it say that anywhere? He seemed to go red and purple – Looked at me with so much anger I thought he was going to have a stroke and shouted “Shut up! – You Shut up”.

Wow! I think my mouth hit the floor when a Lufthansa staff had the audacity to actually tell me to shut up, Of course I was angry and told him that this was not the way to talk to any passenger,but I guess he had already lost it, so he threatened to call security to which I replied not to bother since I would be calling security on him. The Lufthansa staff stormed off to find the local security, and I could see him, doing the cheek kissing ritual and telling them something while pointing at me. The security guys sauntered in and in typical fashion asked for my passport, thankfully a couple of Emirati guys intervened and said that the staff was at fault , he was impolite and it they were in my situation they would have slapped him by now. The security guys seems to understand and walked away. The Lufthansa staff did a double take as he was surprised that the security guys didn’t do anything , the poor man couldn’t stop with his animated gestures and disappointed facial expressions.

Seething I wanted to give him my point of view, but I had a flight to catch so I let things be. However, since I am a bit of a busybody I came back and got to know that the gentleman at hand is the Deputy Station Manager at Lufthansa working there for the last 19 years – Seriously?!

From my view, Lufthansa – Your staff’s behavior was such a poor demonstration of customer service, you need to seriously train your staff , I could have even been a Lufthansa passenger, but the Deputy Station Manager did not bother to check why I was standing there or which airline was I flying. Even senior staff need to retrain as being on the same job for so many years brings about complacency.

Success

success-is-a-journey-not-a-destination

The word success has been on my mind a lot lately, I met a few friends and the general tone of the conversation got me thinking about success and what it means. The general consensus is that success can be termed as “making it” . That making it almost always turns out to have a monetary nature. So in simple terms success=piles of money.

However, if you look closely does that “success” really matter.? We go around working hard at school and then at college and finally at work to achieve this success. And when we finally achieve it, we hope to get some sense of satisfaction. And then what’s next, life is supposed to get easier since now you have “made it” , but often we find that the feeling of satisfaction is short lived and we quickly go around finding a new goal to achieve it and find that oh so wonderful feeling of “success” and so on and so forth.People start gathering possessions -bags, shoes, cars, jewelry,…More and more to feel another round of “success”.

But is that all what life is all about? The way I look at it, is that no matter what I do, and the level of success I achieve, life is not going to get any easier and challenges will always remain. Success should be more than the end goal, more than the pot at the end of the rainbow. It is the journey to the goal that we need to derive satisfaction from.To find happiness and fulfillment in the process of everyday life. From something as mundane as organizing your clothes to suffering through your exercise routine.  I can tell myself that I will be successful when i reach my goal or I can find the process of achieving the goal , as a means to derive fulfillment.

Overdoing it

Situations!! We all come across plenty of them, the good, the bad and the ugly.. What are the causes and did you actually want … how can you benefit from them or how can you get out of it.. The first step, the next step.. All these questions ??? Asking yourself this once or asking yourself the same thing over and over again..

How did I get myself into such a situation?

What can I do to overcome?

Do I have the choice?

Should I think about myself first?

Am I hurting anyone?

It’s ok to ask all the above and many more however you need to understand your situation first or how it is relevant to you .. If you over do it (I mean the thinking part) sometimes it drives you up the wall or you keep going loop the loop without any definite answers.. Which can lead you to depression, hatred, loneliness, resentment and unhappiness..? I believe – It will be what has to be – doesn’t mean we don’t have to look into the different aspects of our lives, just means to take a deep breath and think “Why” is it happening and “How” can you undo it or make it go away ?

Easier said than done, yeah yeah – me too! However I thought I would share this wonderful brainwave of let’s stop “Over Doing It”!

To examine is good but don’t overall dissect without a rhyme or reason. 

And have Lovely Weekend Friends – the weather is still on your side – Enjoy it! Dont over think and over plan just go out there and have fun… (Just keep in mind where to BBQ, with the new Kuwait laws you don’t want to take any chances) 😉

situations