Stranded

My journey home from KAF to LBC involved a one-day stop in Kuwait. I e-mailed my friend and former boss Scott (Center Manager at Camp Virginia) and asked if he would pick me up at the airport. Here is the relevant part of my e-mail to Scott copied directly from my e-mail:

I'm due in to KWI tomorrow on Gryphon Air, flight No. 6P-093, leaving Kandahar at 1530, and arriving KWI at 18:45 on 24 August 2010. I'm hoping you will pick me up at airport.

This is his reply, copied directly from his e-mail:

I / we will be by the Starbucks / Cinnabon side of the arrival hall as you exit the customs area ( left side ).

Anyone who has arrived at Kuwait International Airport (KWI) knows exactly what he's referring to.

My plane arrived 50 minutes early on 24 August and since it was daylight and it was Ramadan, the airport was virtually empty. I checked out the area in front of Starbucks/Cinnabon, didn't see Scott, so I sat down facing the airport entry in order to see him when he arrived. I waited 30 minutes until my scheduled arrival, walked around outside for awhile, then waited another 15 minutes, so as not to appear impatient. I did not have cell service since I'd left my Roshan SIM card back in Afghanistan, so I found a corner, rifled through my suitcase to find my Wataniya SIM card, bought 5KD worth of minutes ($20), turned on my phone and saw that Scott had just sent me a text.

"Are you here?" he wrote.
"Yes, over an hour" was my reply.
"Where are you?"
"Starbucks"

There was a short wait, then I received from him:
"Where is Starbucks?"

My phone rang.
Scott said, "I know where the Green Beans is, but where is Starbucks?"
I said, "Where are you?"
"LSA." [Life Support Area; the passenger terminal at Ali Al Salem Airbase.]
Scott, I'm at KWI, not the LSA PAX terminal!
&%$@ (>^%/ +=%$#!!



They dropped off Wendy back at Camp Virginia, then sludged through a bad accident and fuel spill at the traffic circle and fought the now massive Ramadan traffic at the airport, so by the time Scott arrived I had ended up waiting over three hours for my ride.

I figure Scott and I are about even, since he had to drive all the way back to KWI to bring me my CAC when I forgot it in the car before my trip to Germany. Luckily, I found the whole event more amusing than frustrating and Scott and I are still friends [but he's a dork].