Look twice at the destination board before taking a sip of coffee, waiting for your plane, ignorant of the fact that it is taking off without you being on board. Nesmahar Sayed tells her story What a day! It was time to go back home, so as usual, I woke up by dawn, packed my stuff and kids, and off to the airport in what I believed was two hours before flight time. By 11:30am on 9 January, we have already checked in at the Kuwait International Airport, and even had our boarding passes for flight number 611 due to take off at 1:15pm heading to Cairo. Since all was fine, we did a bit of shopping. Unlike my usual habit of taking the midnight flight to spend the day with my husband, this time we booked the morning flight because my five-year-old daughter, Shahd, had to be in school by 10 January. At 12:30 noon we went downstairs to the food court, bought Shahd and her three-year-old brother Abdel-Rahman sweet corn after which I told them, "you will eat that on the plane for it is now time to go." We bid my husband farewell and joined the departure queue. Why did I do it? Destiny is all I can say. I looked on the arrival-daparture board on my way to the departure gate. I was surprised to see "Cairo, 14:00, Gate 3". I turned back to my husband and pointed at the board that the plane was delayed and we could have an extra hour with him -- better than staying alone with the kids inside the plane and hearing comments from the hostesses or some of the passengers nagging about my kids' naughtiness. Along with my husband we sat by the corn vendor for the kids to eat, where surprisingly we found my son's lunch box. We looked at each other and smiled. However, the kids had a wonderful time. Finally, we heard the last call for EgyptAir Flight 611. It was 1:30pm. We rushed upstairs and we bid my husband farewell again. I looked back at my husband who was urging me to hurry. I gave the passports to the Kuwaiti officer by the gate and he told me that our boarding was cancelled. Shocked! I had no other reply but "Why? The plane leaves at 2pm!" He said, "Hurry to the gate." I ran with the kids who heard what the officer said. When we reached the gate, we found it closed, empty except for two Egyptian men I recognised later from EgyptAir asking: "where were you madam? we looked for you everywhere." "The plane leaves at 2pm", I replied. "But madame, what you are talking about is the Kuwaiti Airlines' flight." Pleading with them to let us through was to no avail. "Madame, your luggage has already been removed from the plane," they said. I could not hold back my tears nor the kids. "You can take the midnight flight," was all they could offer. How could I do this to the kids? I kept asking myself. I broke down till one of the Egyptian men told me to calm down for the kids, reminding me that I am a mother. I kept on saying, " Al-Hamdulellah, Thank God." My daughter repeated it after me and kept saying it all the way back to the officers to go through immigration as arrivals -- the shortest time I have ever spent between departure and arrival in the five years I have been travelling back and forth to Kuwait from Cairo. The Kuwaiti officer was very sympathetic, "Everything is going to be ok, madam. This is fate, you still have rizq [bounty from Allah] here in Kuwait." My husband was looking at us, trying to understand what happened. The officer told him to go downstairs to receive us by the arrival gate. I had to take my luggage then go back to the EgyptAir office to know what I should do to take the midnight plane. The office manager was very upset with me, and asked again "Where were you madam?" I told him the whole story again and he insisted that I should pay 105 dinars for delaying the plane half an hour waiting for us and changing my tickets. "But I did not hear my name," I said. "We do not call on people's names," he replied. I felt guilty that I have not seen my flight details accurately. Whoever heard what happened, had one conclusion: "It seems you were not destined to take this flight." We went back to my husband's aunt's house, had lunch, rested a bit and I had to tell the story again. We settled for the midnight flight, 613, departing at 11:45pm. By 10pm, we were at the airport for the second time, weighed the luggage and met the Egyptian employer who made it easier for us as he explained to his colleagues our case. By 11:15pm we bid my husband farewell. Ironically, the plane didn't take off on time and inexplicabely, the gate did not open for boarding until 12:30am. Finally we took off by 1:25am. While waiting, I wished that any of the complaining gentlemen who earlier in the day taught me a lesson in puncutuality for being half-an hour late, would show-up with some explanation for the one hour and a half delay. I guess they were too busy trying to handle the critical situation and keep EgyptAir's bright image of punctuality. But up till now I keep asking myself at whose expense was this delay?
