Hong Kong International Airport, consistently ranked one of the best airports in the world, is clean and modern and mostly easy to navigate. But they still do something that a few other airports due, which is provide a shuttle bus from the main terminal to selected gates (presumably because they’ve had to add gates to keep up with demand but haven’t had time to build out the terminal to accommodate them). This isn’t usually a problem but when we left Hong Kong it was a Sunday night and the airport was packed with people who arrived at the airport late and had to rush to their gates. I was with my friend, Thao, waiting for the bus. When it arrived, there was a mass push of bodies through the gates, past two people in wheelchairs that the airport staff was trying to get onto the bus first. It was chaos. We pulled back and — since we had arrived at the airport early and didn’t have to rush — decided to wait for the next bus. The boarding gates for the buses are on either side of the alcove we were in, so we moved to the other one, where we were near the front of the line, near the gate that would open when the bus arrived. An American family stood behind me and I heard the girl, maybe 10 or 11 years old, say, “Just push your way to the front” and I remember wanting to turn around and say to her, “No, just wait your turn like everyone else.”
A sign above the bus entrance informed us that buses arrive “every 4 minutes” but it was closer to 10 minutes that we stood in a tense line of nervous, late fliers when the bus finally pulled up. As soon as it did, everyone from the other line rushed into ours. I could have just stood back again and let them go but when would it end? There are always going to be people late for their flights trying to push their way onto the bus. So I decided to stand my ground. But I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. It was like being in a riot. People rushed through the gate, shoving each other. A middle-aged Chinese guy pushed his way on and then had to fight to pull his bag out of the crowd. He reared up and put up his fist, about to punch a woman who was in his way. In front of me was the little girl I was so upset with just a few minutes before and I found myself shielding her with my body to make sure she wasn’t trampled by the crowd. It was crazy. But we got onto the bus okay and made our flight in plenty of time.