Smoke in your eyes at Surabaya airport

By Alex Abraham

JAKARTA (JP): To the uninitiated, the new waiting lounge at Surabaya's Juanda airport is an exiting if smoke filled experience. The lounge has a brand new tiled floor, more lighting, more sheet glass, more plants and an air of all round newness. The chairs and sofa's are new, brightly cushioned in the non-smoking area and made of gleaming new anodized metal in the smoking area.

The first thing one notices is that the authorities have provided for twice as much seating for the smokers as for the non-smokers. Undoubtedly this was decided on the basis of much market research, taking into account the city's proximity to the Gudangs at Kediri.

Surya, my numerate friend estimated 375 seats for the smokers versus less than 200 for those that abstain. Iskander had another theory that ran thus.

"The fact is that 80 percent of the men smoke and the soft seats are provided for the ladies and the children and the metallic ones for the fathers in order to encourage them to sit in comfort with their families." Clearly that axiom was not working on this particular day.

All the interesting and vital shops and restaurants are located in the heart of the smoking area. In fact a child would have to traverse 75 feet of smoke filled territory to reach Ho Yoe for a soft drink. His mother would have to do likewise to reach Dharma Melati Kafeteria for a packet of krupuk or biscuits.

I could not help but observe sympathetically, two Nordic tourists with their teva chappals and "Nike" back packs make the journey across the area with handkerchiefs held tightly over their noses. It resembled a scene from a war movie, two people tentatively traversing a minefield, although they were in fact only trying to reach the `Made in Indonesia' stall to purchase some beautiful batik and special Indonesian handicrafts.

Across the aisle from me were two other American ladies arguing as to which one of them would make this dangerous crossing? Our flight had been delayed and I unabashedly strained to overhear the discussion. One of them wanted food from the Juanda Cake store. The other, clearly suffering from the effects of the heat outside and the smoke inside, needed Panadol from the Juanda Drug store.

Both these shops were situated on the far end of the smoking area, which by now was beginning to resemble the cloud filled caldera around Mount Bromo. Ultimately the sick one prevailed and the hungry one trudged off on her mission of purchase, wearing a scarf around her face like in some western movie - Jesse James setting off to rob a bank.

Other passengers faced the same predilection whether they wanted a newspaper from Puspita Kios Majalah, or embroidery and brightly printed clothes that hung attractively displayed in Ugari and Serentry Lerasati.

A group of three children espied through the smoke the Napoli Ice Cream and cool drink stall in the far corner. They argued and yelled at their reluctant mother to satisfy their yearning for icecream. And like any good mother, she ultimately succumbed. She stood up, took a deep breath and moved with trepidation towards the freezer followed by three whooping joyous kids.

Clouds of smoke waft through the passenger lounge, blown hither and thither by gusts from the air-conditioning ducts. "Cigarette smoking is injurious to your health" proclaimed the warning on the cigarette pack, carelessly thrown beside a pillar.

Said Iskander wryly; "They should put up a warning `Waiting in the Lounge for your flight is injurious to your health'. Particularly in Surabaya"

I turned my attention to the non-smoking section. The whole area was dominated by a large backlit hoarding for Marlboro. The dainty potted plants stood in enormous Sampoerna and Gudang Garam branded plant holders. The only non-cigarette-associated feature in the area was a small jewelry stall and a Bank Lippo advertisement.

Blissfully the wait ended. The flight was announced and the passengers stepped out into the fresh air. Committed smokers delayed their departure till the last moment before unwillingly stubbing out their cigarettes in the giant ashtrays. Those suffering from the smoke in Surabaya heaved a collective and audible sigh of relief. Their ordeal had come to an end...or at least until they landed again in Jakarta.