Today at T2, they changed the exit. You had to exit through the ramp meant for cars. An old lady who was pushing her luggage trolley couldn’t figure out the way out. The staff rudely redirected her to move away from the flap barrier. I got into a fight with them and things got pretty heated. But it didn’t matter to them. They are perhaps overworked too. But to treat an old lady this way was not acceptable. We made our way to the rickshaw stand, I took control of her trolley. She told me that she had got confused and wandered to this side. No one had directed her. She had just landed from Dehradun and wanted to get to the auto stand. She even urged me to not fight with the flap barrier attendants. She had to get to Bhandup. Thankfully we found an auto and she got in.
Many things troubled me today. One, as an airport passenger was she not entitled to good service all across? After all the steep air fares have an airport fee too. Was there a reason for the staff to pick a fight instead of apologising to me? Would things have been different had I been a person in authority? Why being a common person in this country is not a qualification enough for decent treatment? Is the service staff under so much stress that they ignore an old lady in her 70s?