First Class

We are waiting in Doha Airport to board a flight to Kuwait. It is late in the evening and the plane is delayed by technical problems.

The flight is half full and we have been upgraded from business to first class for this short hop up the Gulf. We must look slightly incongruous as the only Westerners on the flight. All the other passengers are Arabs in dishdashas.

Eventually the announcement comes, first in Arabic and then in English, that the plane is ready for boarding. Economy class passengers are asked to board first. Nobody moves. The announcement is repeated. Evidently there are no economy class passengers.

The next announcement asks business class passengers to board. Nobody moves. We have to suppress a fit of the giggles. The announcement is repeated. Evidently there are no business class passengers either.

Eventually the announcer gives up, and calls for first class passengers to board. As one man we all stand up and go to the gate.

We enjoy the hospitality in the first class cabin, which is curiously empty.