Punctuality… that excruciating little word we all dread since our school days. Punctuality reminds us of an unrealistic vision thrown upon us. To date, I’ll bet a majority of us have not reached there. This little anecdote is for all those people who are ‘Punctual and they know it’. The ones who arrive at a venue one hour before the event commences, much to the embarrassment of the hosts who are just finishing the ‘final touches’. They are probably reading this with their collar uptight and their snobby noses in the air. Well… let me get into the incident.
I was on my Diwali vacation along with my parents, well… someplace. That’s not important right now. We were staying in a hotel. (I am not going to describe it much). We were enjoying a pre-booked holiday with a travel company, (Yes, the people who make you run around).
We were supposed to get up early the next day for sightseeing. It’s quite a hassle. I had recently come to the conclusion that all the scenic architecture runs away after dawn. No wonder the guides want you wide awake as early as possible.
We had to leave at 6 am. My family scheduled a wake-up call for 5 AM. Me, being the awesome superhero that I am, was supposed to wake up at 5.45 am. I’d be ready by 6 breakfast and clothes included. I’d take a quick shower at night so it’d be fine.
Since we were supposed to shift to a different hotel in a different city, we had to keep our bags packed and out the door for Mr. Porter man at 4.30 AM. Such a sweet guy, I tell you. He was in charge of keeping the luggage in our respective buses.
I slept early, not wanting to wake up early the next day.
Soon enough, the sun came over to my hotel window, cheerily saying hello. Yes, hello to you too. Uninvited guest. Mr. Curtain doesn’t do his job as a security man very well these days. He’s becoming lazy. Demands high pay.
I changed in a flash and stuffed my face heading out with my family and last minute ‘Did we forget anything?’ checks.
When we reached downstairs, a chaotic atmosphere surrounded our vehicle of transport. All of our happy holiday tourists were busy gossiping.
Here is the scoop.
Let’s call her Mrs. X. Mrs. X is an enthusiastic middle-aged lady who has come to travel with her son and hubby dearest. Mrs. X must surely have insomnia or else I doubt how she completed this feat.
She woke up at 3.00 am. She packed her family's bags and kept them outside her room as aforementioned, punctually. She’s a punctual princess. She then indulged in making herself coffee or probably went to sleep. Who really knows at this point?
I’ll get to the crux. Apparently, all her bags are missing now. Why?
Another travel company was also residing there. According to their travel itinerary, the bags of their tourists were to be kept outside at 3 am because their coach was leaving at 4. The poor porter assumed Mrs.X’s bags were of the same group and picked them up. They were sent by another bus.
So much for being punctual. Long story short, we ended up spending 2 hours getting those bags back.
Moral of the story? Please don’t be an overtly punctual smug, someone (me) could have slept for those two hours.
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