Memoirs of a Jetlagged-sha 4

Of course, by the time I got to part 3 of my memoirs, a blue-blooded American had to tell me to quit my "bitchin'". Ha ha ha... I knew this was going to happen and will I ever quit bitching? Only time will tell. One thing I know, I am now not as jetlagged as I was; I am amazed that I recovered this quickly. I bet the injured shoulder does contribute to that (more endorphines?) but I am now more concerned about my impending check out in about 40 minutes and my arduous journey to the next hotel. One can't stay at the Sheraton at almost USD 200 per night unless one had to; the next hotel is less than USD 100 per night. As reluctant as I am to reduce myself to the next place, I need to. USD 100 pays for many meals. Thus, this final part of the memoirs.

One cannot help but be very awed by the John F Kennedy Airport in New York. It is amazingly huge and there are many pieces of artwork adorning its walls. I am not artsy enough to know if they can be considered impressive but it goes give me a feeling that the place I am about to visit welcomes people from all lands and is tolerant of diversity. And before long, one enters the border control area where queues form rapidly and snake around the barriers.

I hate the wait. There is something about the US border control folks that I should... not bitch about this time. Amazingly, for all the grief that the guy manning the counter had given to all the visitors before me, checking them till heavens come, he cleared me in record time.

It was as though he had been expecting me and after a couple of questions - what is your purpose for visiting and how long will you be here - he fingerprinted me like a con, took my mugshot and cleared me. All with so much friendliness I thought I would faint. I was so happy that I promptly went to the wrong baggage claim carousel and begin wondering why there were so few Germans among the passengers waiting for their luggage. Before long, I realised my mistake and went to the correct belt. My bags arrived in less than 5 minutes. (Of course, when you wait for almost 45 minutes at border control...)

I grabbed my bags and was waved through the customs folks even though I declared I had meat products (pork jerky for my NJ friends). Compared to Newark, JFK was really a breeze to go through. Everything was bigger and brighter. People were friendlier and the atmosphere was more welcoming.

Yesterday, the US revealed a new, friendlier face to a traveller. And to this terribly tired and irate traveller who has another leg of rail travel to complete, it was very much appreciated.