Man, life is tough...
You can't assume anything in life. The default settings are always set against you..
For example,
you go to a restaurant and order,
a veg do pyaza: the chef would dump his entire stock of chilly powder into it, unless you specifically state 'Mirchi kum'. You can't assume 'medium' spice. The default assumption is that you are the greatest chilly lover in the universe...
a cup of coffee: The default setting is lots of sugar and 'extra sweet' coffee. If you want less sugar, you have to explicitly state. You can't just assume 'normal' sugar in your coffee
It is not just food. Wrong default setting is everywhere. Have you not heard the saying 'a bread falls with buttered side down'? That is the default setting of a buttered bread, right there
Universe is always conspiring against you. How much careful can you be? Easier said than done.
The incident I am about to narrate happened to me on 7th December, 2017...
It was morning 7 am and I was about to leave my hotel ('Rush Inn on Bank Street, Meena Bazar Dubai') for the airport to board the Indigo flight to Bangalore. I had three pieces of luggage with me, all heavy, and I wanted to reach the airport well in time, having given an extra 30 minutes, just in case.
I came out of the hotel and hailed a taxi...
When you hail a taxi anywhere in Dubai, you will naturally assume that the driver will know the way to airport, right? I mean, it is not a big city by any standard and is a tourist destination. Carrying people to an fro from Airport is the bread and butter of a normal taxi driver in Dubai.
You expect to dump the luggage in the boot (in India we call it Dicky, for some reason), casually sit in the car, tie the seat belt and blithely ask the driver to take you to Airport Terminal 1. And he will be like 'Yes sir, which route should I take? Maktoum or Garhoud?' and you expect to ask him to take the quickest route, preferably with no Salik (toll tax in Dubai)
Right?
Right?
Wrong...
When I told my taxi driver (blithely of course) that I wanted to go to airport, the first question he asked is 'Do you know the route?'
Wait, what?
He was from Pakistan and was new to Dubai. In a place teeming with taxis, I had chosen a taxi driver who did not know the way to my destination.
He switched on his GPS and we started our adventure, him and I. He opened Google Maps, typed 'Airport Terminal 1' and we were on our way.
(If you ask me why I did not take another taxi, I direct you to the section about my heavy luggage. Also I had a buffer of 30 minutes, remember)
Despite working in IT field and all that, I am still getting used (euphemism for 'I have no clue') to Google Maps. I am from the old school that believes that god has given a mouth with a tongue to ask for directions. Here was this driver, expecting me to guide him using google maps.
Nothing teaches you the concept of 'Space Time Continuum' than navigating using google maps. If it says 'go straight for two kilometers', you can be certain that there will be multiple decision points on the way that will strain your concept of 'Straight'.
It it says go straight for '400 meters and then turn right', you will be confused if you have to take t he right after 200 meters, 300 meters, 350 meters (it will feel as if all the roads turn right !!), the first right or the second right at 400 meters. And you will invariably take the wrong right (see the clever play of words there? Unagi !!!)
Even when you finally reach the airport, if you assume that you will be directed to the departure terminal, you are wrong. Unless told specifically that you want to go to departure terminal, the driver will end up taking you to the arrival area, one level below.
If you assume that trolly will be available nearby, you will be wrong...
If you assume that someone will guide you to departure terminal, you will be wrong...
Finally, if you assumed that flight will depart from Terminal 1, they would have rerouted it to T3...
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