Pick up?

A few months ago, I was watching a live event on YouTube. It was a former NBA star’s tour in Asia. The organizer arranged an event at the airport and told the fans that it’s welcome to come to the airport.

However, when the star arrived at the airport, he didn’t stay long at the airport. The organizer picked him up and the star got on the van very soon. The fans were shocked because the star was at the airport for like 2 minutes. Yes, the fans just saw him for 2 minutes and then, he was in the van, heading to the hotel.

I saw lots of fans, who left comments on the organizer’s Facebook page. Those fans were just angry. When I read these comments, I remember that I used to pick up some athletes at the airport.

It was 10+ years ago. I organized a main-theme event and one participant is an Olympian. I arrived at the airport early because I didn't want him to wait too long. When I arrived at the airport, the flight was about to land. So, I guessed that I would see the Olympian soon.

Nonetheless, things didn’t happen as expected. I was at the airport for more than 1 hour, but that Olympian still hadn’t arrived. Then, I became a bit worried. Something went wrong? Did he miss the flight? Would he miss the event?

I truly worried a lot because I organized some media events for this Olympian. But, thankfully, he showed up later. I saw him and said hello to him. He was glad to see me. He indicated that his luggage was lost. He waited at the baggage claim for a while and realized that his luggage hadn't arrived. The Olympian had to fill some forms, so the baggage would be sent to the place in which he would stay. It was an interesting experience to pick up an athlete at the airport. It wasn’t very smooth, nonetheless, it wasn’t too bad.