Food...

"If I'd worn my fitbit I would've got a week's worth of steps today!," I thought. It was a long walk from Gate A20 at the West end of the Philadelphia International Airport to Gate C22.

It was my mistake!

Not only had I booked an 8:45 PM flight thinking it was AM, I also didn't realize it until after 9 PM last night when I saw the notification on my phone that my flight was ready for check in.

Although I called the travel agency right away to try and get me on an earlier flight, the best they could do was put me on standby for the 8:05 AM (for which I had to pay $75).

I immediately called Rapid Rover (the airport shuttle service) and altered my reservation so they would pick me up between 530 and 545 AM this morning (vs the 615 to 630 AM originally planned for the 845AM flight I thought I was to be on)!

Luckily, I had packed last night, so even though I awoke only at 4:55 (my target was 4:30), I was able to quickly shower, get ready and even make myself a cup of tea (to go) before the driver knocked my door.

I have never seen a longer line for security check as I witnessed this morning, but luckily (again), TSA not only opened up an extra lane and diverted a few passengers directly to it, they also did not require passengers to take their shoes off or take out the laptops from their bags!

"Should we get something to eat?," my boss asked.

So we left Gate B15 (where the 8:05 was scheduled to leave from) and checked one restaurant after the other back up the ramp in Terminal B to see if we could get something quick and dirty, but quickly understanding that most of them were sit in restaurants and none of them seemed quick, we decided to retrace our steps all the way to the end of the ramp where the Philadelphia International Airport's new Marketplace and Food Court were located.

"Should we do Starbucks?", my boss asked again, but one look at the line suggested we shouldn't so we settled on Subway and deciding to go healthy, I got myself a 6-inch sandwich on Italian-Herb bread with pepper-jack cheese, spinach, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, black pepper and oregano!

After stuffing our sandwiches in our bags, we started the trek back down the Terminal B ramp to B15, where my boss and another colleague boarded the 8:05 Amercian Airlines flight to Orlando, while I stood-by to see if I continued to be lucky enough, this time to get a seat on that flight.

The process was painless!

Once they had boarded all the passengers (Group 1 to Group 9), the Gate Attendants went on to board some crew members who were willing to take any open jump seats (likely to get home after long schedules on the road) and then let those on stand-by know that the flight was now full and closed and that they would automatically roll us over to the next flight which was at 1035 AM.

They only needed us to wait a few minutes to complete the process and then they could tell us which gate that flight was scheduled to leave from. That's when I ate my breakfast sandwich.

The trek from Gate B15 to Gate B8 wasn't so bad but the cold air that blew from the air conditioning vents no matter which part of the waiting area I sat in (I changed 5 seats including one on the floor) ensured that my brief stop at the men's room on my way over wasn't enough!

On my return from my second visit to the rest room, I decided to just stand, and right in front of the counter too, hoping that at least one at the Gate Attendants would recognize my face from the stand-by list for the 8:05 at Gate B15 and slip me a boarding pass in a pang of sympathy.

It was not to be and after standing on stand-by as Groups 1 through 9 boarded the 1035 AM American Airlines flight to Orlando, I was told again that all stand-by passengers had been automatically rolled over to the next flight, scheduled to leave at 1:34 PM, from Gate A20!

I decided it was time for a cup of coffee and since Starbucks wasn't on the way from B8 to A20, I settled for a small coffee with milk and sugar at Dunkin Donuts, but couldn't resist myself from adding 6 munchkins to the order (3 old-fashioned glazed and 3 old-fashioned chocolate) when the barista asked if that was all for today.

Luckily, Gate A20 was not only practically empty, there weren't any air-conditioning vents blowing cold air either and with an open view of flights taking off, I parked myself in a seat alongside the glass window and dove into my munchkins right away. That the coffee seemed bitter after 6 didn't bother me.

The wait was longer this time but the story (and its end) quite the same! This is when I was automatically rolled over to the stand-by list for the 3:45 PM flight out of Gate C22.

"I'll get a proper, sit-down lunch," I thought, a bowl of fettucine pasta in alfredo sauce with a hint of pesto topped with sauted mushrooms & slivers of roasted garlic swirling in my head at the same time, but for some reason, I kept walking past all the restaurants on the way hoping to find one near Gate C22.

When I had walked well past C22, the only sit-down place I could find on that ramp was Chickie's and Pete's and the waitress' first reaction to what was vegetarian on the menu was an expression that suggested "not much", I put my coat back on, picked up my bags and walked back towards C22.

Aldo Lambertini's Trattoria was modest with a seating space that held about 12 x 2 seater tables but the pizza slice with diced tomatoes, ricotta cheese and pesto sauce looked fresh and inviting so I settled into one of the 2-seaters and focused purely on what the knife and fork made of poor plastic could do for the next few minutes, before ambling across to Gate C22.

I had a bone to pick with the Gate Attendant this time!

"I paid to be on stand-by, this is the fourth flight that I have been automatically rolled over to and each time my name drops on the list of passengers on stand-by," I said, to which he responded that all those ahead of me had some sort of status with the airline and that there was little he could do about it.

So this time, I picked a seat in the farthest corner of the waiting area from where I had a clear view of the Gate Attendant's counter and yet, I wasn't in the way of anyone who was boarding the 3:45 PM American Airlines to Orlando or in the way of unruly air-conditioning vents blowing cold air.

Starbucks fell in the path between Gate C22 and Gate A8 where I was next headed (being automatically rolled over to be on stand-by for the 6:15 PM American Airlines flight to Orlando) and I decided to treat myself to a Blueberry Muffin along with my signature Double-Tall Latte!

"If I don't make this flight and am automatically rolled over to my original flight (not of course on stand-by this time because I had a confirmed seat for the 8:45 PM American Airlines flight to Orlando), I can complete my culinary journey with dinner!," I thought.

Although the weather turned bad and the plane had to sit on the tarmac for a couple of hours and be de-iced before it could actually take off, I considered it God's grace when the attendant at Gate A8 called "Ba la sub ra ma"...

They weren't carrying the Fruit and Cheese plate on board tonight, so I had to settle for a glass of water and a Biscoff cookie, but the flight attendant just asked me to shut down my laptop because in a few minutes, we will be landing in Orlando...

OCD...

It was 12:37 PM!

"Enough time to get a cup of coffee before my next meeting," I thought.

I picked up my phones from my desk and as I started walking towards the elevator (I work on the 11th floor), I opened the Starbucks App on both my phones, checked to make sure that both had refreshed to the same messages / look-and-feel on the feed (a little quirk that some may call OCD)!

I hit "Pay" on both phones, smiled when I noted the balance, hit order on both phones and when the Starbucks App on my Comcast provided mobile phone did not locate the Starbucks in Comcast Center as the closest location to order from, I completed my order of a Tall Latte with 2 Shots (aka Double Tall Latte), with a few clicks of my right thumb on my personal mobile phone.

I was pleasantly surprised to see no customers (forget no line) when I arrived at the Starbucks store (in the lobby) and even happier when within a minute of arriving, the barista said, "Bala, your Double Tall Latte." It gave me sufficient time to get back to my desk, pick up my computer and walk over to one of our VPs' offices for my 1 PM meeting.

I should've probably expected it, given it was lunch hour and not many people would choose to get coffee at that time (especially if they had already had 3 cups since 5 AM)!

Most importantly, it gave me that extra moment to make sure the Starbucks logo on the brown sleeve aligned with the Starbucks logo on the white cup, after I had added to my hot drink, 1 packet of raw sugar and stirred it well with 2 wooden stirrers.

Trust me, it's not even my worst OCD!

I think that started with Numerology...

Even as my mother suggested I spell my name Lakshminarayan (and not the more common Lakshminarayanan), it occurred to me that numbers would play an important role in my life.

10 (my birth date) was lucky and so were 1 (the sum of the digits of my birth date) and for some reason, also 7 and 9.

It was when we started winning competitions every time my partner on the college Dumb Charades team picked a number (to decide the order in which we would take the stage), that that "5" became my luckiest number!

Now, lucky numbers are one thing but when you start adding up the digits of the time in hours and minutes to ensure you send an email (especially important ones) only when it adds up to 1, 5, 7 or 9, YOU NEED HELP.

Even shrinks would give up on me if they hear my restaurant routine!

For, every time I receive the check, I do the math in my head to make sure the tip (10 to 15% usually), adds up to make the total amount a perfect dollar figure (no cents please). If the dollar number ends in 5 or 0, it's sheer ecstasy...

As I started my walk back to the elevator after I got a new lid from the barista (the original one had fallen in the trash as I removed it to add the raw sugar), I pulled out my phone (only one this time as my right hand held my coffee), opened the Starbucks App and hit "Pay".

One of the reasons I love the Starbucks App experience is how quickly they refresh the data, and it gave me immense joy to note that, the balance, which was now showing $0.00, had been $4.27 (the exact price of a Tall Latte with 2 shots) before I ordered the coffee.

Tell me please, should I be worried?


P.S. I'm posting this at exactly 11.50!

Short...

Should I write?

Should I sleep?

Or should I just hang in here and wait for the presentation that poor Jonathan has been working on all day long and expects to send me in the next 20 minutes?

Quick time check on the top right 'whatever they call it' bar of my macbook, shows it's 4:36 PM EST! The map on airborne.gogoinflight.com shows we're flying right over Kansas City (I wanna say, CST) and 2Hr 19 Min of flight time remaining....

But the "1" that just appeared in a little red circle (accompanied by a little white envelope) over the golden yellow "O" (for Outlook) on the status bar (I think I got this one right) at the bottom of my macbook made me check if it was Jonathan's email and a quick review of the presentation and my notes back to him have ensured that even if I go on, how much more I can write is limited not only by my laptop's battery (now at only 25%), but also by more 1s in little red circles that keep appearing from time to time...

One thing's clear, I can put off sleep for a bit, because 21% on my macbook doesn't count for a lot!

Which is also what I'm counting on, what with nature calling...

Not that I can go right away even if I wanted to with the refreshment cart in the way!

So I'll just sit tight, sip my coffee and wait it out...

Jonathan's fast, he just sent me the presentation updated with my notes!

But checking that and responding to him have ensured my battery's almost run out...

So I'm going to publish this without further ado!

For even if this is a short post, it's been a while since I wrote...

Line...

"How long would you wait in line for a cup of coffee?", I asked my son.

"Why are you asking me? I don't even drink coffee", he said.

"I know you don't drink coffee, but see that line there", I said, "do me a favor, can you quickly count and tell me how many people are in that line?"

"Really Dad! Don't you have anything better to do?", he said.

"Come on, be a sport, just count and tell me how many people are in that line", I urged.

"... 21, 22, 23, 24!", he said, "24 people to be exact".

"OK, one's just joining the line now, so let's call it 25", I said.

"Now think about it", I continued, "let's say it takes 1 minute to service every customer, so it would take 25 minutes (or 24) for the last customer in line to get to the counter and then they probably have to wait another 5 minutes for their drink, probably more, given that they have so many drinks to churn out"...

"So now tell me, would you be willing to wait 30 minutes for a cup of coffee?"

"I don't know", he said, "but probably not".

Clearly, I wasn't willing to wait that long either which was probably why I was not in that line myself at the Starbucks store in the Walter E Washington Convention Center in D.C. (where the International Science and Engineering Fest was being held) but was sitting on the sidelines, thanks to the sofas I had spotted from the far corner of the lobby.

"Let's put my theory to test", I said. "You see those last customers in the line? The guy in the black t-shirt and the girl in the skirt?"

"Yes, I do", he said.

"I'm going actually to time how long it takes them to get to the counter", I said.

"OK", he said, 'go for it!"

A few minutes later, I found out that I was clearly not in line with the times.

"Where is your phone?", he suddenly said, having paused playing whatever game it was on his iPod. "Why are you not timing it?" he added, noting that my iPhone was lying next to me on the sofa but was not running its Timer App!

I looked at him for a second. "I have a watch (pointing to my wrist) and I have a head", I said.

"OK, OK", he said and went back to playing his game. "Dads these days!", he must have thought to himself.

I spent the next few minutes watching 2 kids playing soccer with a foam ball (they once kicked the ball right into the Starbucks store), 1 lady leave a sofa that was adjacent to us, 2 other ladies join us on the 2 adjacent single seats (as their husbands joined the line at Starbucks) and other pretty ladies join the line for coffee. 

Every few minutes, I checked to see where the girl in the skirt was (conveniently for me, the guy in the black t-shirt had left the line to take a phone call) and then checked my watch. I didn't catch her checking her watch at any point, but as she got real close to the counter (3rd or 4th in line) I did notice her little shake and jig. Maybe she just heard the music from the store clearer from where she was, but I preferred to think of it has her victory dance...

"My hypothesis was right", I blurted out! "It took them exactly 25 minutes to get to the counter" I said.

"Wow Dad!", he said, "this is like the 4th or 5th time you've predicted something right this week" (he was referring to some of the scores I had predicted teams batting first would make in the IPL mid-course in their innings).

Allowing myself only a moment to gloat, I quickly turned my attention back to the line. I was surprised by what I saw.

"It seems like people are willing to wait 30 minutes for a cup of Starbucks coffee", I thought to myself. "But do they know that it could be another 30 minutes before they get their coffee when they join that line?" I further ruminated.

"Is the average wait time the same throughout the day? It's surely not the same at all Starbucks stores but do the smart people at Starbucks know how long their customers wait on an average for their coffee? Better still, do they know how long their customers are willing to wait in line?"

"Ten minutes", I told myself! "That's probably all I am willing to wait in line to get a cup of coffee. So when I see more than 9 people in that line, I'm probably not going to join it" I went on, when my phone rang.

"Where are you", she asked?

"We're in the lobby, near the Starbucks store", I said.

"OK, I'll be there in 5 minutes", she said.

I noticed that the line had become shorter. I got up from the sofa and moved towards the store.

"I'm sorry sir! We're closed for the day" the security guard said, as he closed the loop on the adjustable line guides...

Coffee...

I turn over! It's still warm and cozy but something's not right. I'm awake...

"What time is it?", I reach for my phone under my pillow. It's 7 am. "It's 7 am, wait what day is it?" The haze clears and the head processes the answer to that question. "It's Saturday! Ahh! It's only 7 am". Only a subtle difference...

The phone goes back under the pillow and the eyes automatically close. Silence, but something's still not right! The eyes open again. Hope is that vision can add sense to what does not feel quite right. "Hmm! That's the problem". The sun is streaking through the space between the 2 sets of shades that cover the window...

"Why did I even turn over"? The head buries itself under the pillow and the hands pull the sheets over the head. "Feels better"...

"It's Saturday! It's 7 am and the sun is shining. Seems like its going to be a beautiful day. Why bury myself under the sheets? Why not get up, shake off the slumber and get going". It takes very little for the grey cells to take over the body...

"What good could come of it?", a silent rumination. "Let's see. It's a bright and sunny day, I could go for a run. Or I could get some work done. Maybe even write or set the house straight. Call a faraway friend or catch the stock market trend. Meditate or vegetate. Stare out the window and watch the birds or look into myself and introspect"...

"Or", the hands throw the sheets back in a rush and the head pops out in an instant. "I could have a nice, hot cup of coffee"...

Not just Saturdays, that's how my every day begins...