No excuse is good enough

HOMECOMING on leave, even for a landlubber, is an occasion to look forward to, but for a mariner, returning after a long separation from family, it is an eagerly awaited event. Merchant Navy officers on large bulk carriers, which ply mostly on foreign routes, have to be away from their families for long periods. After nearly a year’s service on such a ship, and before proceeding on leave, I handed over the charge to the Chief Engineer at Ghent, a port in Belgium.

My cousin and her husband had flown over from London to be with me during my ship’s stay in port. After an exchange of bon voyage and happy landing with my shipmates, I, with my guests, drove to the Brussels airport and reached well in time for our respective flights. After going through the departure formalities, I got my gear checked in. Since we had time to kill, we went to a nearby restaurant to have one more meal together in Belgium.

My cousin’s husband and I downed a couple of beers, a drink which normally is not my cup of tea, and the lunch got extended. When I reported at the departure counter, I found myself all alone. Anyway, lugging my heavy gear, I proceeded to board the plane. Amid being paged on the airport’s PA system, I was almost running to the gate leading to the tarmac runway for boarding.

I silently cursed the airline’s punctuality. Then, an airhostess enquired if I was the Mr Singh who was about to miss a flight to Frankfurt. I readily yessed and mumbled an excuse that my watch was half an hour slow, having been inadvertently left unadjusted to a different time zone of my last port of call. She was relieved at having found me and helped me board the plane. When it was airborne, I sent a note of thanks to the pilot, asking for his forgiveness for the delay on my part which had caused inconvenience to many, giving the same excuse of the time zone left unadjusted on my watch. Later, I was surprised when the captain came and sat in the seat next to mine. He enquired about my family, my home and my job on the ship. And then I was amused to find myself caught in his subtle trap when I told him about my last port of call before Ghent; this port and Ghent have the same time zone. The captain flashed a genial, all-knowing smile and made for the cockpit, exposing my excuse of being late to board the plane. I have never even thought of having a beer after this embarrassing episode, which reminds me of my irresponsible act and folly. Indeed, no excuse is good enough.