June 22, 2008 4:17PM

A funny thing happened on the way to the Hilton

By Ashley Webster

Since arriving in Jeddah as part of the traveling media circus I have spent countless minutes, if not hours, waiting in line for one reason or another. On this day, the big day of the Jeddah Energy Meeting, all journalists were ordered to assemble at the Westin hotel where we would then be bussed to the Hilton, en masse, to the conference itself.

I would call it a sea of humanity, although I realize there are those of you out there who believe journalists are anything but human, nevertheless we were crammed into the hotel lobby. With the air conditioning struggling to stay at the bearable level we shuffled sweatily toward a security x-ray machine and metal detector before being led back outside to board the bus.

I was one of the first journalists aboard the very first properly air-conditioned bus and I knew it was too good to be true. After driving with purpose toward the conference our bus was turned around at the Hilton and before you knew it we were back at the Westin. Totally perplexed we were bundled out of the bus and back into the Westin lobby where we again stood in line for the x-ray machine with sweat running down our faces.

It turns out our bus was turned around because we did not have a proper security guard traveling with us. Naturally the other two buses did and those journalists were happily dug in at the Hilton by the time my poor, over x-rayed group limped into the conference.

The early bird may get the worm but apparently early journalists get the shaft. Such is life.