Dhaka Diary

Courtesy Costs Nothing
A few days ago, it was raining heavily in the morning while I was waiting for my bus to go to work. There were fewer buses than usual because of rough weather. Finally to my relief, the bus arrived; however, as usual it was very crowded. I somehow squeezed myself onto the bus. I noticed a middle-aged woman along with a young lady standing uncomfortably on the bus. A little annoyingly, I asked a young man who was seated why he was not offering his seat to the women. The young man became a little embarrassed and reluctantly stood up from his seat. Seeing that, another man also offered his seat to the ladies. The man grumbled and said that he did not mind offering his place to elderly women, but would not do the same for young women since they are always rambling about equal rights. We usually notice such scenes everyday. I think as a citizen we are the least courteous in our behaviour, which is really pathetic.
Sohel Hara
Olympia Palace Restaurant

A Business of a Kind
A few days ago my mom became ill and needed someone to help out at home for the daily chores. So, she got in touch with a woman who usually helped out poor girls to find a job at people's homes. She brought a young girl of 14 over to our place, and assured my mom that she worked well and was dedicated. However, right after 6 pm, the woman came over with the young girl's father saying that the girl's mother was sick and she needed to get back to the village as soon as possible. My mother somehow did not buy this excuse, but still gave the girl her work's worth and let her go. At around the same time, I had to go out for some reason. When I walked out of my house, I saw the young girl standing beside a shop with the woman. I stood next to her, keeping my face hidden from them and saw the woman taking 25% of the girl's money. I was shocked, since my mother had paid the lady a good amount anyway. It was sad to see this kind of business affecting the poor girl and all the others alike in such a pathetic way.
Imran Salauddin
School-South Breeze

GMG Airline's Service
Never have I been so enraged. Two weeks back, I was taking a GMG airline back home in Dhaka from Sylhet when the plane was delayed for five hours. Unfortunately, I was a minute too late to check in at the counter. The plane would leave after 15 more minutes and it would take me 40 seconds to board the flight but the traffic officer, Majumder, was adamant to deny me my flight. Just two days back, I was in another GMG airline, which flew after 40 minutes, because it apparently had "technical difficulties". The officials made us board the plane and then later asked us to get off and wait in the lounge. I noticed that there were several seats empty at the back and I later got to know that they delayed the flight so that they could fill them up. As the plane was rather empty, they had kept the ticket counter open for a long duration, unlike this flight. What was interesting was that Majumder was not even at the counter when I had arrived. When he did stroll back, he recorded the time of my arrival at the counter 2:46 p.m.. As I begged him to let me catch the flight he showed me the rules of reporting, written on the 3rd page of the ticket under the heading 'Departure Information'. I couldn't believe how they were discriminating with the timing. On yet another incident, the air conditioning system broke down and the passengers were drenched with sweat as they got off the plane. They even had the audacity to hand out customer feedback forms regarding the service of the flight. I don't know if they are trying to test the patience of the clients but personally, I am never flying with them again.
Tanzeen Ferdous Alam
Dhaka

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