Tests Of Endurance

April 3, 2010

in Odds & Ends Stories

I was on a flight from Athens to Montreal, on Olympic Airways in 2004 on an Airbus 340. That’s my first really long flight. It was a night flight, so after a while people tried to sleep. There was some middle aged guy in front of me who actually stood up from his seat and stood in the aisle, and proceeded to put on his pajamas. I could also smell the shoes, although I’m not sure if it was his or some other passenger’s. Its not a good feeling, seeing that…

It got depressing watching other people doze, so after a while I tried to find a place to sleep myself. There was a row of 4 empty seats just ahead of a bulkhead and near the lavatories. I thought it was a good idea to lay down there and try to get some sleep. That wasn’t so great. Although I did get some short low-quality sleep, I was constantly woken up by the slamming lavatory door, and had to put up with the occasional smells coming out of it. On top of that I had my wisdom teeth removed 2 days before, and it was aching a bit…

I can safely say that was the worst flight ever, although I can’t really blame the crew for it…

The way back was much better. I was accompanied by a friend, and knew what was waiting for me, so I had bought a book and made sure to get served as much wine as I could. Unfortunately, Athens was closed because of bad weather, so we were diverted to some regional airport. We were stuck there in a small duty free area, on airport benches for hours. The company offered to move people by train and to provide hotel accommodation. Most took it. I could have, but as my friend did not have a European passport and we were just transiting through Athens, he did not have the right to leave the airport! I stayed with him 2 days, sleeping on an airport bench.

As soon as the airport opened again, he bought himself a ticket back home on another airline. As for me, I took the hotel accommodation offered by the company, and I slept like 14 hours straight… best sleep ever…

The airlines provided me with a flight back home the next day.

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Clare April 3, 2010 at 2:50 pm

And how does this qualifies as a "flight from hell" ?

Reply

dan April 4, 2010 at 8:41 am

Clare…… Your a dumb ass

Reply

Hugh April 4, 2010 at 11:21 pm

Dan…it's "you're" as in a contraction for "you are".

Dan, you're a douche.

Clare I agree 100%.

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Karan Agarwal June 10, 2013 at 3:11 am

Hugh… since we are nitpicking… shouldn't it be

Clare, I agree 100%

Ahh , the mighty comma strikes again !!!

Reply

Kad April 9, 2010 at 2:21 pm

I kept waiting for the climax to the story.

I can't find it.

And yes Hugh, the inability to think through a sentence and find the meaning in words one types are one of my personal peeves too. It's not enough to know all the letters and the words. One must also know how to use them.

I'd like to blame edumacation (the Bush Junior years), but I just can't do it. There is a general dumbing down of society today, and am constantly surprised at the (lack of) writing ability of people who are in fairly important positions in their organizations.

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Kads Mother July 17, 2010 at 6:28 pm

OK here goes, kAd youree ah deoosh bahg an evErthang yew sayid is bUlL sheeite. As usual Kad has as much poop in his mouth as he has in his brain. Never has anything of substance to say or anything positive to add to the conversation so please don't bother to comment until you have sucessful surgery on what little brain you have left.

Reply

Kad July 18, 2010 at 3:59 am

Please don't post when you are drunk.

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april m April 9, 2010 at 4:33 pm

Hugh

You're a dumb ass

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Kad April 9, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Hugh is, ah, unpredictable.

Reply

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