Airport Pickup Misadventures with FOPs

The Indian Students Association of Arizona State University has a separate page devoted to picking up incoming students from the airport. It is very nice of them to offer this voluntary service to fresh Indian students, most of who would be landing in the US for the first time in their lives. There is one interesting and important passage in red in this airport pickup page:

If you have any relatives or friends at ASU or in Tempe or around, and they can come and pick you up then you are requested not to ask ISA to pick you up. We have had several instances wherein, volunteers get to the airport to receive the students and finally it so happens that their friends come to pick them up. Kindly cooperate to reduce the inconvenience to the volunteers.

Apparently, there have been "several instances" when FOP (fresh off the plane as opposed to FOB) students have requested the Indian Students Association volunteers to pick them up at the airport, and at the same time had a friend or relative come to the airport. This is poor planning and inconsiderate behavior on the part of such students.

Picking up FOP desis from the airport can be iffy.

Years ago, we had a colleague who was going to be our roommate in the US, ask us to pick him up at the airport, when he landed from India. We went to the airport and looked around for over an hour, without finding him. The airlines told us that he had indeed been on the plane which had landed just when we arrived at the airport. So, where could he be? We called home from the airport. It turned out that, our hero had met another Indian on the plane who had been going to the same location as where we stayed. So, he shared a cab with the other guy, without bothering to wait for us or look for us in the airport!

More recently, like the day before yesterday, we went to the airport to pickup another FOP colleague. Before going to the airport, I went into my apartment to get my car keys, while my roommate waited near the car at the apartment parking lot. During these crucial two minutes, when I was away from my roommate, the FOP colleague called him from the airport. The fact that I was not around when that call came in, would decide the outcome of the rest of the afternoon.

When I came to the car, my roommate told me that the guy had landed and would be waiting for us in terminal "24". Terminal 24? The airport here has only FOUR terminals. I thought my roommate might have misheard terminal 2 as terminal 24. You see, the colleague was coming by United Airlines, as per the itinerary he had emailed us. And United always lands at terminal 2 at the airport here.

Long story short, we waited and did several rounds all over terminal 2 looking for him, for over an hour. We even had him paged over the public announcement system. Finally, we asked the United Airlines desk if he had been on their plane. Were we surprised when we were told that he had not flown in on United at all. Instead, he had come by another airline which landed in terminal 4! Off we went to terminal 4, several rounds there, still no sign of him. Finally, we got a call from our apartment. The guy had taken a cab and come straight to our apartment from the airport! WITHOUT bothering to call us before leaving the airport! Three hours of our afternoon, our day and our lives lost!

We came home fuming. After several "sorry sir"s, we asked him why the heck did he not call us before leaving the airport. He tells us that he did not have coins for the public telephone! Could he not have gotten coins from the stores in the airport? None of them would break a $20 note to give him coins, he said. "You could have bought something at the store, a coffee or a juice, and gotten change! The company would have even reimbursed the cost of the coffee for you," I told him. Then I asked, "How did you get change to make the first call soon after you landed?" He said, "Some guy at the airport gave me 50 cents!" What about the itinerary, which said he would come by United Airlines? How did he come on a different airline? He has no idea! Between the time he emailed us the itinerary from India and the time that he actually started his trip, there was some change about which he does not seem to be aware, and we were never informed!

FOPs, I say!