If you have ever traveled with a group of people, you know the interesting dynamics that develop. At first, everyone is thrilled and excited to be together, looking forward to whatever the trip brings, and all are in a good and jovial mood. Then the journey begins---and things go downhill from there.You find out that this or that person is an insufferable snob, those over there are really cheapskates, trying to get others to pay for them, you have your flirts, your loudmouths, and so on.
With our group there was all that going on and worse. We happened to be stuck with a lady that insisted on going off on her own. So that many times--- the tour leader had to search for her before we could go on to our next stop. There we were in Florida, visiting many of the local attractions, like the Everglades (beautiful!), going on a nature walk, etc. And every time, at every place we went--this woman would disappear. It got so annoying, the guide having to waste time looking for her, that honestly--the rest of us were all in favor of just letting her stay lost, so that we could enjoy our tour.
Finally the tour was over and it was time for us to go back home. So there we were at the airport, and the tour guide was doing a head count, when---you guessed it---this lady was missing. Now Miami International airport is huge, so it's very easy to get lost in there.We thought, oh no...we are going to miss our flight because of this woman. So we formed a search party and started going into every shop and restaurant looking for her, while keeping an eye on the clock, so that we could check in for our flight.
The tour guide, seeing that we were running out of time, and still not having found her, decided to have her paged, with one hour remaining. She heard her name, and calmly shows up at the security checkpoint, with two very large paper bags --loaded with oranges. Oh--she says--I just couldn't leave Florida without bringing home these delicious oranges.
We were yelling at her to please hurry, we were running out of time. This made her flustered and nervous, and as she ran towards the security scanner entrance--she ran into someone, and next thing we know the bags of oranges fly out of her hands, and there are oranges rolling all over the place! The security people and everyone else is scrambling to pick up the rolling oranges, we grab the bags and start telling people to please help us put the oranges back.
Then we hear that boarding has started for our flight. The heck with the oranges, we thought--we have to get to our plane. But the lady says--that she wants to collect every single orange--she paid good money for them--and she won't go home without them! Our patience had just about run out with this woman, but she made a big scene about it. The security people, also trying to do their job, helped collect all the damn oranges and finally we went to board our plane.
While the whole group was really angry at all this turmoil--the woman herself was as nonchalant as if nothing had happened--telling us to just relax and take it easy, see--she told us---I got all my oranges, and the security people were quite friendly and helpful, why are all of you so upset---we made the flight--right? You people should just learn to relax--- make the most of your time. And with that she settled into her seat and happily ignored all the aggravation she caused for the rest of us.
