Today was pretty much devoted to travelling but it wasn't without its problems. Everything went well until we landed in Buenos Aires from Rio. We were supposed to go through customs in BA but we had to pay the $100 USD 'Reciprocity Fee' at Immigration. Australians and Americans even had their own line whcih would have been very quick to clear immigration. But....as soon as WE got to the cashier, his receipt printer ran out of paper. Okay, he says 'one moment please' and goes off to get a new roll of paper (yes of course it would make more sense to have a spare roll at his desk). Then, he gets the new roll but can't for the life of him figure out how to load it. He tried stuffing that paper in every which way but it wouldn't load.
Not to look defeated he puts on a serious look and rings someone to help him who appears to be telling him over the phone what to do. Nope, still no good. 'Excuse me everyone, I will ring IT!'
"Excellent, we think. At last someone will know what to do.' 20 minutes have elapsed now. IT guy arrives (I swear IT guys around the world look the same...a little overweight, wearing black, and have that 'what have these stupid users done now look?' look on their face). Anyway, IT guy is even more useless than cashier guy. He just gestures to the little printer implying he works on more important things like servers and laptops...not insignificant things like replacing paper rolls. 35 minutes have elapsed now and our connecting flight leaves in exactly 1 hour.
Cashier guy rings someone else. IT guy looks on with an approving look on his face. 10 minutes later 3 more people arrive. These are actually immigration check in people who are wondering why they have processed everyone else that arrived off the flight but there's a group of Aussies standing at the end of the room. Once they understand the problem, they all have a crack at it with no luck. 10 minutes later someone had the bright idea to ask one of the girls that works in Duty Free who changes the paper in about 15 seconds. We've been standing there for nearly an hour asking cashier guy about backup plans and what would happen if there was a blackout.
I would have loved to have taken a picture of 6 people stuffed into the cashiers cubicle trying to change a paper roll and I'm still incredulous that it took an hour to change something so basic. However, taking photos in the immigration hall is prohibited and I didn't really want to be deported yet.
Anyway we eventually got our receipt, got through immigration then grabbed our bags and ran to the domestic check-in counter. We only had 15 minutes before the flight was due to take off but after a hasty explanation about the idiots in immigration which received a knowing smile, a nod and a roll of the eyes, she checked us in and took the bags. Then, we get to the gate and because the plane is parked out on the tarmac, they had to arrange for a bus for us to be taken out there. By this time we think we are really late but as we got there, there were still people walking up the stairs.
Needless to say, we were the last people on the plane but we needn't have rushed....the plane didn't take off for another 25 minutes. Oh the joys of travel!
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