Waiting Time
Cast of Characters
2 staff members: Verónica and Natalia (One of part of the security body and other from the passenger assistant)
2 passengers: Fernando and Valery (Colleagues and friends)
Points to address: Waiting in line for security checking, passing through the airport security, waiting for luggage or bags to arrive, waiting time before the flight(layovers), passing through the tickets checks, passport control time,
(A man and woman are standing in a long airport line)
Valery: Thankfully we came on time. If we had arrived late, we would have lost the flight.
Fernando: We’ve been waiting for 30 minutes, and we’re still at the end of the line.
Valery: It’s always like that. Maybe we should talk with one of the passengers’ assistants.
Fernando: There’s one near the entrance. I can talk to her if you want.
Valery: No, you don’t have to. Stay in the line, I’ll talk to her.
Fernando: But, why you?
Valery: That doesn’t matter, just stay here.
(The woman approaches the passenger assistant from the airport)
Valery: Excuse me!
Natalia (passenger assistant): Good morning, what may I help you with?
Valery: We want to know, why is this taking so long? Did something happen?
Natalia: That’s really out of my hands to be honest, the amount of people in comparison to staff members exceeds our limits. Aside from that, everything is working as always. I will try to talk with the staff, so that flights that depart earlier may go through check up first. But I can’t promise you anything.
Valery: We might miss the flight if the line doesn’t advance. What if you give the turn to people from the same flight, by passing in groups?
Natalia: My sincere apologies, but by doing that we would be fomenting disorder, and it would be unfair for those who arrived first. I’ll let you know. Maybe, there’s a problem that I don’t know of.
Fernando: (He called Valery) What's going on?
Valery: We will probably have to wait, until she tells us if there’s any way of going faster.
Fernando: Alright….
Valery: I’ll head back, until she tells us what to do.
*After some minutes, the passenger assistant approached to them*
Natalia: There’s a problem with some staff members. A lot of people have a flight today, so it’s normal that the line is taking longer than usual.
Valery: Yeah I know, but you should be prepared for these situations and maybe consider improving the organization.
Natalia: I already talked to the workers from each airline. They will allow lines according to the flight time, luggage, order and airline.
Fernando: Did you rearrange the line order?
Natalia: Yes, we were receiving multiple complaints from several people. This is temporary, but for today it’s necessary. Please, wait for a little longer.
(15 minutes later, they finally passed through the check-in area. But, could only proceed to the security checkpoint, after 45 min of waiting)
Valery: Ugh! We arrived here on time! We spent too much time waiting in that line.
Fernando: Let’s stop complaining and just wait for our turn.
(About half an hour after)
Verónica (Security filter): Please proceed!
Valery: Finally! The line was really long.
Verónica: My apologies, a lot of people came with prohibited objects and a lot of luggage.
Fernando: Oh right, I forgot about that... I think I brought too many things with me, so this will probably take a lot of time.
Valery: I told you not to bring unnecessary stuff! *Sigh* Okay, you go first then.
Fernando: Look at who’s talking. The one that brought 3 suitcases for 1 week of vacations.
Veronica: Please, hurry. There’s people waiting.
From the speakers: Fernando Manjarrés y Valery Duarte, please head to gate number 5, southern section. The airplane leaves in 5 minutes.
Valery: Oh no! We are going to miss the flight. Hurry up, Fernando!
Fernando: Valery, I think we have a problem….
Valery: What happened?
Fernando: I bought a pack of soda, and that sign says that no liquids are allowed.
Valery: Just throw away all the sodas or we’ll miss the flight.
Fernando: OK, calm down.
Valery: bla bla, calm down.
Verónica: In the gentleman’s suitcase there are also sharp objects, like the nail clipper, which aren’t allowed.
Fernando: Okay, I’ll leave the bottles and nail clipper here.
Veronica: Thanks for your cooperation mister, please proceed to the security scanners. Miss, you’re next.
Valery: Finally! Please, make it quick. I don’t want to lose my flight… I’m done.
Fernando: Let's take all our luggage and run. They’re probably waiting for us.
Last call: Valery Duarte and Fernando Manjarrés, please approach gate 5, southern section. The airplane leaves in 1 minutes.
Fernando: Valery let's go to the plane, where’s the boarding pass?
Valery: Probably in my purse. Enough chit-chatting. Let's go!
