Heya…..time flies as I flew. March has been a hectic month, a sharp contrast to peaceful February, where after my two suppy flights, I was mainly on standby for the remaining last 2 weeks due to errors the Scheduling people made on the rosters for my whole batch. Got called up for KL and Frankfurt. Good layovers. I was lucky.

Anyway, March's first week was Fog Week. Dubai got all foggy. My apartment windows looked as though they were painted white. Scheduled flights got delayed, airborne flights got diverted and cabin crew went crazy. Many pulled off one flight to do another immediate one. Like packed for cold Franfurt but sent to hot Nairobi. My neighbour made plans for Singapore but had to do some turnarounds instead. Scheduling people were scraping the bottom of the barrel. Inconsiderate crew called in sick once they saw fog outside their windows for they knew what to expect. My flight to Singapore was within that week…thus, it got delayed for HOURS. Imagine the state of my passengers. Some of them were stuck in the airport for 2 days. This was a true test of empathy. Despite the fact that the delay could cause me a shorter layover in Singapore, I felt sorry for my passengers, all cranky and crumpled, especially the Economy Class ones. Being packed like human FedEx boxes when all you want to do is sleep is no consolation but weariness and exhaustion can drive one nuts. They actually cheered and obliged when our captain finally made a PA that we were taking off soon so please fasten seatbelts and whatnots. Usually, passengers pay no heed…they would choose that time to take a leak in the lav or pay a visit to the galley for a glass of water/juice/wine/anything else that fits in a glass. But that day, securing my cabin was a breeze. For once, I felt strangely efficient. You have to give hell to get heaven sometimes…