Embedded Files
The Time of Change
A traveler coming to the airport does not want to see change, but the airport has to keep evolving to accommodate more complexity and volume. People will remember doors and pillars but they may no longer represent where you need to be, and the kiosks may act and behave differently if replaced or reprogrammed. Travelers will still see agents and the odd white hatter, but not as many as before or they are lost in the crowd. Signs may not be right and hoarding may be blocking paths they are familiar with. Friendly agents can be tricky if young and vivacious, but inexperienced. Are they giving you the right information? Experienced agents may noticeably show reluctance accepting change since they are used to doing things the old way and therefore also struggling. All this is upsetting and adds to stress levels for the average traveler.
Similarly, the white hat movement continues to evolve. A white hatter can now come without a hat and their costume has been modernized to reflect current realities and expectations. Without our hat on, travelers may be more unsure of what we represent, although our red vests still stand out in the crowd. Adjustments to our practice sometimes are necessary to match refinement of security standards or to minimize liability risk from changes introduced, with risk factors acting like a virus undergoing mutation. But our value remains undoubted as we represent a backup information resource. I have noticed also that recent changes introduced once accepted are making for a more pleasant experience, thanks to our refreshed management team.
What I try to bring is loyalty, someone who can be trusted to be there and to stay on top of any changes introduced. My felt hat is hot, but I continue to wear it for consistency of image. My principal duty remains providing a friendly warm greeting and wayward finding, but it helps if I know something about the overall airport operations. I always aim to give a traveler the right information. Sometimes I need to ask the airline what gives if things seem different, as certain detailed information only comes to me “second hand”. Westjet staff normally know only what is applicable for their business, not overall airport operations and what the other airlines are up to. They often will tell their client to go see me, someone who hopefully can provide an alternate, reputable, and reliable source of information.
The doom and gloom of world events has caused the average citizen to be more depressed than normal. We cannot let political leaders destroy our mood and livelihood; therefore, we need to do what we can to keep our spirits up. Every traveler I interact with responds warmly to my friendly greeting and doing so improves the overall mood of the airport to allow for a more pleasant experience. We cannot show too much patriotism in the “public eye”, such as pinning up a Canadian flag, since a lot of Americans pass through the airport and we do not want to stir up any controversy for public opinion.
Our white hat lounge, however, is private in the sense only white hatters and our management team are allowed into the room. With permission from management, I was able to pin up a good size 3 x 6 Canadian flag in that lounge and it looks beautiful and is out of the way. I told management they can keep the flag as long as it remains on display somewhere. I love our flag, not only for its design, but what it represents, and it goes so well with our red and white outfits we wear. Others have commented that it makes our lounge cheery and it acts as a reminder for what is important to us, our Canadian heritage.
Plight of Sunwing
There were some travelers hanging around the International Terminal who had a sad, concerned, or angry expression on their faces. They knew that I was not the source of the problem and I was on their side wanting to help as much as I could. I found out that it was Sunwing’s travelers who were victimized, since their flights to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and another to Varadero, Cuba were cancelled for a second day in a row. The excuse given on the notice emailed out was that it was weather related.
That notice did not go over well for the travelers, as they felt this was just a big lie. There were four other flights from other airlines to Puerto Vallarta that day, even with Flair, who historically have struggled with their reliance. The travelers could see outside and that it was sunny and bright and therefore concluded Sunwing must not have wanted to compensate them for a canceled flight, letting the weather be the excuse. With so much disinformation circulating around social media, I understand the reason behind their suspicion. Travelers have difficulty knowing what is right and who to trust for what was said. How often does an airline cancel a flight, then rebook for the next day, only to cancel the flight again to rebook on day three?
Family vacationers had booked their week-long vacation package while the children were going to be on their school break. The kids needed to be at home the following week to attend school. Getting to their destination three days late out of seven was hardly going to be worth it, as they would have missed out on a good chunk of their vacation. Therefore, some family just wanted to go home once they had assurance they were to get their money back. There were no Sunwing agents at the counter yet as their next flight was not leaving until mid afternoon. When they tried to get Sunwing on the phone to talk to a representative, they were told the wait time was going to be one and a half hours!
I did not think Sunwing would lie to their customers, or cheat them without adequate compensation. Any travel agency knows this is a recipe for failure and eventual bankruptcy of operations. There had to be more to the message they received than what was described. I know Sunwing does not have that many planes and this has to be part of the problem. Upon further research, a plane was supposed to fly out of Toronto Pearson Airport last night to pick up travelers in Calgary to take them to Puerto Vallarta, and another plane to Varadero. So now the weather message they received was because of Toronto as the Departures airport, not Calgary! Toronto has had a lot of weather issues lately, but it was felt that surely, they could have plowed out a runway of snow after two days to have Sunwing fly out. There was more to this story beyond weather.
On the news the previous night, a Delta flight had rolled over and died on the runway in Toronto when coming into land, leaving 80 passengers hanging upside down in the cabin thanks to their seatbelts keeping them in place. What I described is exactly what happened, but what caused the plane to roll over was still under investigation. Fortunately, all passengers and crew were able to miraculously scramble out to safety, and then it was a matter of airport authorities mulling over the wreckage and trying to figure out what caused this accident to happen. A runway was closed until the wreckage could be cleared; therefore, Sunwing did “lie” as the cancellation first and foremost was because of a plane crash. But an airline is not about to tell their travelers that due to a “plane crash”, they are not coming to pick them up!
I talked to a Westjet supervisor and even though they own Sunwing, they knew nothing about its operations and they would not issue a credit for a canceled flight booked through Sunwing. Westjet would be pleased to sell a traveler a last-minute ticket to Puerto Vallarta at an incremental cost of well over one thousand dollars. Families were not wanting to spend so much extra. The whole idea of Sunwing allowing Westjet to buy them out was that Westjet could give the backing they needed for reliability as to pilot and plane if they had a resource issue! I am sure Westjet had a plane somewhere in Calgary that could have been used to fly travelers to Puerto Vallarta. Also, an internal credit could have been given a traveler so they could fly on one of three Westjet planes flying to Puerto Vallarta that day.
Westjet wants Sunwing to remain a separate entity and healthy competitor. However, the powers to be have not decided if the planes should be operated by Sunwing or Westjet. Based on this experience, they should be operated by Westjet! As it is now, Sunwing can be a travel agent only for vacation packages to Cancun, as the flight is operated by Westjet. I circled back to find families who were hanging around to get their money back. Giving further explanation helped them realize there was more to the cancellation than just Calgary's weather and Sunwing trying to avoid compensation. They much appreciated knowing this and now were more understanding, starting with the Delta crash in Toronto. It is very unlikely regardless that they will ever book Sunwing again. Westjet should be ashamed of themselves for not helping them out.
Further troubles with Sunwing occurred three days later as two flights were seriously delayed. The excuse was stranded vacationers at sun destinations needed to be dealt with first before new travelers could be flown out. How could things have gotten to be so bad? If pilots and planes are already transitioning over to Westjet there will not be enough resources left to deal with Sunwing’s service issues. I talked to a couple of Sunwing agents and they blame Westjet completely for their troubles, but it is Sunwing that is taking the blame for everything, destroying their reputation.
Police Presence
The police need to be present just in case, as they do get the odd call to deal with an incident. They are a friendly crew, at least to a white hatter. Their service is different from a customs official who are ultimately responsible for a traveler trying to come to Canada illegally, or bringing goods into the country that are not allowed, including a big wad of currency. With thousands of travelers coming through the airport daily, well over 99% will not cause an issue but occasionally something will happen. This includes lost or stolen passports, a car getting towed outside when abandoned, or an escalating incident between a traveler and an airline agent. I have seen agents phone the police if someone refuses to cooperate. The police will usually work with the traveler to settle them down, or they will be charged.
One day I had to phone for the cleanup crew, as there was this grey haired man laying on some chairs outside of the Marriott and beside him was a big puddle of barf on the floor! Often travelers who cannot afford a hotel will sleep at the airport overnight so that they can catch their flight in the morning, but having a person at this location was abnormal because it was not exactly a quiet corner where he was located. I immediately thought he was either drunk or had a serious case of stomach flu to prevent him from having the energy to get help with cleanup. I kept my distance in case he was contagious, as there was a really nasty stomach flu spreading throughout North America.
Westjet also asked me to phone security, but I figured let's deal with the cleanup first as he was resting peacefully. Three big burly policemen came to pick the man up later and they said he was going to "jail" so he could sober up. The police have their own jail, being four locked stalls at their airport headquarters. Customs officials have even a bigger jail separate from the police. A traveler therefore has two opportunities to get placed in a clink when coming through the airport! This jail bird to be was probably riding a bus and ended up at the airport, missing his stop because of his current state. The bus driver, with his last stop being the airport, probably told him to get off. I am glad he was not contagious.
Family Life
A family of five arrived in the International. The three young friendly kids were instantly chatterboxes when I greeted them. Then the father realized he left his cell in the car and with a frown on his face, he said he needed to go back to the parkade to pick it up. I made a comment that fathers can be forgetful at times, and they all laughed. While the father headed back, I told those remaining that they could really impress Dad if they could check their bags and drop them off before he got back, showing how independent and competent they can be. They could start to do this by having Mommy scan her boarding pass at the kiosk. The kids all started to laugh, saying: "Oh… this is not our mother!" Uh...okay, none of my business anyway. Upon second look, who I thought was the mother was a gorgeous blonde! I can only speculate as I am not to be nosey. Maybe she was a much older and mature sister, but her hair was not even close to being the same texture as that of the kids. You never know what to expect these days.
As Good as it Gets
A traveler booked to go to Atlanta and beyond with Delta. He had checked in online with Delta even though the flight was operated by Westjet, but he could not get a boarding pass. Once arrived at the airport, he tried to print his boarding pass off at a kiosk using Delta as the airline. He only had carry-on luggage. The kiosk said to go see a Westjet Agent, but the lineup for Westjet check in assistance was quite long and time was moving on. That is when I caught up to him. He had not tried to check in online with Westjet. I told him what the heck, ignore the kiosk message and go into Westjet's app and get the kiosk to print off his Westjet boarding pass, since they were operating the flight to Atlanta. He entered in his Delta itinerary number which contained some numbers whereas Westjet's number is all alpha.
The kiosk validated his passport during the process, then printed off his boarding pass to Atlanta! Huh? Therefore, the message to go see a Westjet agent was just a matter of having someone validate his passport! It is possible that he should have actually seen an agent and maybe this was a program bug, but the online application and kiosks validate passports for many travelers! He also wanted his second boarding pass for the next leg of his journey, that plane of which was operated by Delta. I took him to the Westjet agent at the baggage counter who had time to go into the system to print this off. If Westjet is super busy with other customers, he can as an option get an agent to print off the boarding pass at the gate.
What we did will not work most of the time due to circumstances, such as there being something missing as to information. To get the application to work consistently, I have no idea and neither does Delta or Westjet, as they are at the mercy of their software applications! When the software works properly, travelers can complete the check in using just Delta’s application! The kiosk will print off a Delta boarding pass even though the flight is operated by Westjet. If the traveler needs to check a bag, the traveler can then go into the Westjet app, scan the Delta boarding pass to get the Westjet bag tag. A traveler does not want a Delta bag tag if the flight is operated by Westjet since he has to pick his luggage up at the carousel for Westjet. Getting confused?
When the kiosk fails to give travelers what they need, or confusion sets in, they go directly to the check in assistance line for Westjet, especially when no agents are at the counter for Delta. If there are Delta agents, they will redirect them to Westjet. The Westjet line can get really backed up during the morning rush hour when the Americans are flying home from their vacation. It can look scary for a family walking in and therefore doing their homework and completing the check in before arrival can save them a lot of grief and anguish. What also helps is that certain agents with ipads are always available to assist with minor passport validation issues for “Delta” travelers to cut down on the size of the line. Westjet agents agree but there are always other issues that need attention. With limited resources, they get overwhelmed with need making dedication to passport validation a lower priority.
When it comes to software changes made to the Delta and Westjet applications, it seems quite evident based on observation that there needs to be more extensive testing done for what if scenarios before placing into production, as problems can surface upon use helping to create disorder if not some degree of chaos, and inefficiencies of process. But this disorder is only for the situation where travelers (usually Americans) book their return trip through Delta when the flight is operated by Westjet because they are familiar with Delta, not Westjet. If they had booked their return trip through Westjet, little or no issue would be experienced.
Current bottlenecks are not helping Westjet's reputation if travelers are missing their flight, although they may blame more the airport. Either way is not good. There certainly are plenty of factors at play here for Westjet's policy to get to the airport for an international flight three hours before departure! The airport needs to continuously work closely with Westjet and Delta to find ways to improve communication, application, and efficiency of operations.
Timing is Everything
A handsome American businessman and frequent flyer wanted to catch an Air Canada flight to Newark and got directed by Westjet to where Air Canada was located. I came up to him at 6:42 AM while he was trying to get a kiosk to print off his boarding pass and the flight to Newark was leaving in 48 minutes, at 7:30 AM! He normally would have been too late, as cutoff was at 6:30 if not sooner, but fate was kind to him this morning. He had checked in online and had only carry on luggage, but he needed a boarding pass. The kiosk did not work because the application closes down one hour before departure. Fortunately, I could see that an Air Canada representative was still at the counter dealing with a customer. They normally leave once the flight has been cut off as they had no other flights that morning. I rushed him over, and with some hesitation on their part, they decided that if he could get through security and US Customs quickly, he could get on the flight before the gate closed. He had a trusted traveller card to help. They gave him a boarding pass 45 minutes before departure. He thanked me heading to security for my quick response to his situation. I assume he made it as he never came back!
Just Be Cool
A calm, peaceful introvert man with horn rimmed glasses came up to me. He was going to New York for an important business meeting, but left his cell phone at home. He needed to phone his wife to have his cell couriered to the airport by taxi. He lived downtown. Time was of the essence in order to catch his flight. I leant him my yyc cell and he talked to his wife and she was to phone him back to provide details for the arrangement made. He wanted to follow me around so that he could borrow my cell again once she phoned back. I trusted him completely that be was an honorable man and so I told him to keep the phone for now while I walked around helping other travellers and that I will remain in the area. After five minutes he came back to give me my phone thanking me graciously. Uber was to pick up his cell and he was to wait outside. He had over an hour to get to his gate and he already had his bag checked. After another five minutes, his wife phoned again and she told me the color and make of the vehicle and the ETA, which was to be earlier than originally planned. I had to track him down outside to relay the latest information, but I could not find him initially, as he was behind a pillar waiting. I came out a second door to sure enough find him. He was surprised to see me tracking him down as he was not expecting the extra service. He was so impressed with what I did that he plans to write up a positive review on yyc's website.
Lost Luggage
One lady flying through Calgary today from Edmonton yesterday had lost luggage already from Edmonton. How could they lose her luggage already on a standard flight from Edmonton? Apparently, her luggage never made the plane and she chose to postpone her trip one day from Calgary for the next leg of her journey to New York and then she was to catch a connecting flight to India. Not everyone will do what she did and because she did so, Westjet’s process and software were perhaps not properly designed to handle this “what if” scenario.
She said Westjet Baggage Assistance earlier that morning in the Domestic terminal could not determine the exact location of her luggage, but they felt it had made it to Calgary and they were at the Calgary Airport somewhere. They sent her to ask Westjet in the International as It made no sense why they could not confirm its present location since it had been tagged in Edmonton. Truth be told they were just getting rid of her as they could not help in that moment. There is no baggage assistance desk in the International and no supervisors were present, with all agents working flat out to get travelers checked in for their flights. She came to me as the only person available.
I could not help much other than show empathy and give her a “1-866” number for lost baggage assistance. She just wanted to make sure she was going with her luggage, but no one could confirm where it was presently! She was appreciative of my effort regardless, but could be starting her trip to India without her luggage.
Cash for Credit
Lots of problems with travelers going to New York these days! A man came to the airport in plenty of time and was flying to India through New York. He tried using a kiosk to check in with Westjet, until he learned this could not be done. I escorted him over to the check in assistance line. After standing in line for over one half hour to get to the counter, he needed to pay for his extra bag and therefore owed Westjet $57. After pulling out $60 in cash, the agent advised him that he had to pay by credit card, but he did not have a card with him, as he always does business with cash. Westjet sent him back to me to convert his cash to credit using a vending machine that was supposedly readily available at the airport, but those machines were taken away a couple of weeks earlier. The Westjet agent did not know this!
I had to escort him down to a Seven Eleven store to buy a visa gift card. They were out of stock for the $75 card and therefore he needed to buy a $100 card. His $60 in his hand was not going to be enough and so he had to go into his bag for his secret stash of money and pull out a $100 note, but this was not going to be enough either, as there was a service fee and GST owed as well. Therefore, a further $20 was provided from what he showed previously and change given back. I advised him what all this meant was that he was going to have $43 of unused credit on that card once Westjet was taken care of, which he understood. He was most gracious for my help.
Checking my notes at home later from a couple of weeks ago, a white hatter told me that when the airport took away the cash to credit card machines, this was going to cause a problem because buying a card at Seven Eleven was not going to work that well either. If a traveler needed a credit card to buy a change in flight, he was not going to be able to use the card for the first 24 hours! Oops! Oh no! Is this true? On my next volunteer day I went to the Seven Eleven counter right away and was relieved to learn that when you buy a gift card from Seven Eleven, it takes only five minutes for it to get activated. Whew! Thank God that white hatter was wrong for the sake of that traveler!
Out of Options
I have noticed that certain travelers who like their independence, but are handicapped to some extent, will come to the airport bright and early so they can deal with matters as they come up, and still have plenty of time to board the plane. A handicapped lady using a cane, who could not remain standing for a long period of time, was going to the US on business. She got her boarding pass and luggage dealt with and then she headed for E Security so she could get through US Customs. But she could not go through right away as she had to wait for awhile, since there is this rule which states that during “rush hour“, travelers cannot go through E Security until two hours before departure.
She was going to the US on a TN visa and had the approved application on her cell phone. When she was able to go through, US Customs said unfortunately she needed to print off her application form, as having it on her cell phone was not going to work. They needed a printed copy. So, on the one hand, the airport is encouraging all travelers to do everything electronically and yet US Customs wants paper! How was she to know this? US Customs could not help as they had no printer and they advised her to look for something like a UPS store.
Being sent back from where she came, she saw me as someone who could possibly help her find that UPS store. Well, that store no longer exists at the airport! I phoned the Information Desk as they must have a printer she could use, but no, forget it. Time was of the essence, as she might miss her flight. They suggested I talk to Westjet. The Westjet supervisor as expected said no, forget it, as they are into printing bag tags and boarding passes. Time was moving on. I phoned Airport Operations and they said no, forget it. She was screwed and about to miss her flight. She sat in the entrance foyer of Door 16 and phoned Westjet to rebook her flight for the next day. She then had to go home to print off her form and catch her rebooked flight scheduled for tomorrow. She will end up starting her work one day late, all because she could not print off her application.
Born Lucky?
An American family of four missed placing their baggage on the belt by a few minutes for their 8:35 flight to San Diego. Yes, they should have come earlier to the airport as advised by Westjet. The mother and two kids chose to catch the flight regardless without their bags and the father would have to come along later as soon as he could. Was it the father’s fault for being late? Maybe, maybe not. Just let the father take it on the chin though so not to spoil the fun of others. Fortunately, Westjet had an 11 AM flight to San Diego as well, and fortunately the father was able by phone to get on that flight with four bags of luggage. Knowing his story, Westjet flagged into the system that he could check four bags for free when only normally allowed one, or he would need to pay extra. His family will only have to wait two and a half hours for the father to arrive. It could have been a lot worse.
Privileged Security
It can always be a challenge for a traveler wanting to get his Nexus card for the final interview with a US Customs Official since you have to be flying to the US with a boarding pass. Apparently, a reservation needs to be made for this final interview, so a traveler claimed. I do not recall this being the case, but the process could have changed. He had to back out of his final interview on two previous trips due to cancellation of flights. Now he needed to fly to Portland, Oregon. He came to the airport well in advance of his flight so he could finally get his Nexus card to be legit. He had booked Air Canada to Portland. Oops, little did he know that Air Canada does not fly to Portland from Calgary and matter of fact, there were no direct flights going to Portland that day from Calgary. He was unaware of the fact that he was flying through Vancouver first to get to Portland.
He arrived and looked for Air Canada in the International, but no one was there. He went to E Security so he could get to US Customs but they refused entry because he needed to check his bag for starters and he needed a boarding pass and there were no flights to Portland! He pleaded there has to be and that he had an interview, but no, forget it. I caught up to him when he was trying to use an Air Canada kiosk back where he started and getting no where, with a dumbfounded look on his face. After explaining his story, he confirmed he still needed to get to Portland regardless. I told him his interview has to be in Vancouver as he does not go through US Customs here, but in Vancouver. He was frustrated with the process and just wanted to validate his Nexus card. I sent him off to Air Canada Domestic to check his bag and told him to come back to me once done. Once back, I showed him where the Nexus office was and perhaps, they could change his interview to be Vancouver instead of Calgary.
Loaded with Stuff for Nigeria
I did worry about a Nigerian lady, probably an immigrant, who was heading back to her homeland with very heavy suitcases obviously containing all sorts of goods. Her intentions were good, but perhaps a bit naïve of the airport process. As she was trying to get the weight within limits for each bag, I saw all the stuff she was taking for her relatives, such as running shoes for the kids and big bottles of liquid. This was all very nice of her and an exciting time for the family left behind to have her come back to them. It took an hour to get her luggage reorganized and now she needed to stand in line for Westjet check in assistance since she could not complete the check in process online. She was going to New York on the first leg. It was 8:25 AM and her luggage needed to be on the belt at 8:40 AM. After all her work, she might not have made it to the counter in time. I told Westjet she had only 15 minutes but they do not allow anyone to cut in.
Miscellaneous
- Women flattery always works for me because I am not a stranger to them and I can get away with being more personal. Examples are: "what a lovely dress you have on", or I will tell a Wetstjet agent "my, you look lovely today". The Westjet agent knows my line but they still appreciate it. Today's agent chose to stay with me for a minute for a friendly chat even though she had work to do, but she decided it was more important to take the time to let her own light shine on me.
- A little girl, almost a tot, liked to wander off when her mother was not looking. Each time I got close to her to keep her in check, she would run back to her Mom and hug her leg, hiding from me. Her mother really appreciated this as I helped keep her daughter close by since Daddy was not with them and the mother had a baby in a stroller to deal with on top of a cart full of luggage. After checking her luggage and ready to go through security, she gave me a piece of paper showing the tot's artistic abilities as a souvenir keepsake and her form of thankyou.
- I had some good fun with a Chinese tour group making them laugh, brought on a bit by their not knowing for sure all the customs and habits of our western culture. A tour guide chosen for his English asked me to show a lady where the closest washroom was located. Pointing was not enough as she did not know English with other members of the tour group looking on. I got the lady to grab my arm so I could escort her to the ladies room. When I got back, I had to do it again for someone else, and then I escorted the first lady back to the group. They all thought this was rather funny for the personalized service offered.
- When travelers buy bear spray, this is now a registered firearm by serial number, because people are starting to use this for unlawful events. Proper procedure is that travelers need to drop the spray off at security. Security then gives to the police to deregister.
- So many Americans are going through the airport, all really nice with the odd exception because they are anti Trump coming here on vacation and they know all about white hatters. One couple gave me a pin with three stars on it representing Tennessee. They wanted me to put it on my vest perhaps as a test of my patriotism. I hesitated and then made up an excuse why I could not. I am not wanting to wear anything that is American related.
- Another family made it in plenty of time for their Westjet flight to the US and had checked in online at home but did not validate their passports. They realized once at the airport that they left their passports at home. The Dad raced back to retrieve them while mother and daughter waited. Due to rainy weather and poor driving conditions, he did not quite get to the airport in time, darn!
- One single young lady had five daughters, all with big beaming smiles! Quite the sight to see. They all looked like her and the mother looked to be just 25 years old! Must have been busy!
- One young fellow arrived before 6:25 AM for his flight to Munich at 17:10 PM! That must have been a record for arriving early, 10 hours 45 minutes before departure.
- One day, there was a very large number of people flying to Minneapolis, all Americans. One young American with three other family members arrived for his flight to Minneapolis 55 minutes before departure, thinking he was there in plenty of time. He kept refusing to accept “too late” for an answer with everyone he talked to, including myself, thinking he could beat the system being pushy and kept trying to find ways to barge in line and talk to different agents, but to no avail. I only wish I saw his face when he gave up trying.
- People really appreciate Mr. Nice & Friendly, being me, most of the time. Just so overwhelming are the really warm and friendly smiles I receive from everyone.
- One American patriot had very flashy pants on with one leg in stars and the other in stripes. He looked like someone who supported MAGA and Trump. I did not dare talk about American politics, as he would have been given me an earful and got my back up. I remained polite and business like, not volunteering any information beyond what was asked.
- Shen Yen musicians came nice and early for their flight to New York. There was 60 of them dressed in black and were young, vibrant, educated, and charming, all Chinese except one. The crowd at the International overall became so dark and formal because of how they dressed. They all spoke absolutely perfect English. I was very impressed with their mannerism and professionalism.
My count was at 199 and I was heading to the lounge to finish my day. I showed a traveler my count and said he needed to ask me a valid question so I could reach 200. He did just that. 200 means I answered questions asked from 200 travelers in less than four hours. A group asking a question means I can count as many people there are in the group to inflate my number as long as the answer is of value to them all. Over half of the count would have been for individuals. On average a group is two to four. There was no basketball team this day to inflate my number significantly. My own record is 283 travelers in 4 hours 20 minutes. My buddy Len and I have a friendly competition with this. I had the higher total for a couple of weeks, but now he claims to have cranked his counter up to 321 in also 4 hours 20 minutes. Maybe next time.
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