The departure tax

O God, I had to wait another eight hours at the airport! From time to time, I would go and get tea to stay awake. One I drank was very strong. By this time my books were all finished. I said, “Let me buy two or three newspapers. Since the flight is at 7:30, I should be there at 4:30.” Actually, I was already there, since I was reading and moving around right near the counter. I wanted to be first in line.

At 4:30, I was standing at the counter. Somebody else came around five o’clock. He was a friend of the ticket checker, so he went first. Then I needed to pay the airport departure tax. The man who was in charge of collecting the departure tax was fast asleep. Here I lost my first place. I was knocking and knocking. Finally, he opened up. When I went to pay, I found I did not have enough Indian currency. They needed three hundred rupees. I had only American hundred-dollar bills. The man said to me, “Are you crazy? Why do you want to give me so much money?”

I said, “I do not have enough rupees.”

I searched and found a fifty-dollar bill, but fifty was also too much for him. I searched again and found a twenty-dollar bill. At last he gave me change. After paying my departure tax, I said, “Now I have to keep myself awake for God knows how long. Let me go out again to buy another tea.”

This time, however, the tea man was fast asleep! I did not want to torture him. I waited until they announced the flight, and then I boarded the plane.