The Selling of the Booze

Chilled Red airplane wine. Listed in the crazy on-screen display as "Celebration Wine for A380 (our plane model) Bottega Ripasso." Delicious. In an actual glass. A cool glass, even. I'm not sure how you get more booze, but I'd like some. After free pouring comp wine (including refills), the focus changed to hawking duty-free bottles of $$$ scotches and brandies to deplane with — NOT for in-flight drinking.  

This was serious business, with all flight attendants drafted into pushing around carts of pretty, gift-boxed bottles and ringing people up, left and right. I guess, upon arrival, it's nice to walk in the door with a fancy fifth of Balantine's or Royal Salute for the wife or business associate? These people do not dick around with their whisky. And not a single bourbon among the options. I don't know about that, but I love how ardent the flight attendents are in this sales and distribution (with a dozen hours left in the flight, it should be noted). As long as the Korea Air flight attendants are doing anything, anything at all, I can't take my eyes off of them.

Now that the booze has been sold, it's apparently customary (obligatory?) to pull the shades and dim the lights. It's still screaming daylight outside, just to be clear. But apparently it's now sleepy time. ALL the shades have been pulled as if by some unspoken agreement. The Vietnamese woman sitting in front of me, cheerfully and cordially indicated for me to pull mine down, too. 

No problem. 

I am — blissfully, willingly — a stranger in a strange land. 

(above: teamwork to close one of the colossal overhead bins.)