Monday Musing
[ Karyir Riba ]
The airport is an amusing place. Agreed that it makes people happy because, well, who doesn’t like travelling, or getting back to the comfort of their home. Nonetheless, a funny place it is, and let me give you my reason to believe so.
We all know how many security checks we have to go through at an airport, right from the entrance to entering the aircraft. They practically get a free striptease out of travellers. Thank be to the lord that they stop after the belts are off. Due to modesty concerns, or may be human rights issues.
Mid-flight, if a random guy stood up to say that he had hijacked our airplane, I would simply continue doing what I was doing, knowing that he must have gone through all the security checks that I had passed before gaining entry into the aircraft. He must surely be bluffing, that attention seeker. Or making a reaction video to upload to his social media for those likes and subscriptions. So, yeah, there is no scaring me mid-flight, unless ofcourse you present evidence that you indeed have a plan or weapon in possession, serious enough to take the plane under your control.
Yes, it completely is to my understanding that these security checks are for our own safety and benefit. But you see, after the umpteen security rituals we are put through, we are abandoned just like that on arrival. Betrayed the moment we land at our destination like a jilted lover, and left to fend for our own when it comes to collecting our baggage.
You see, it has come to my realisation that airports are not only funny but selfish as well.
I’m not sure if others have had this thought or if I am too paranoid, but I have always feared losing my luggage to someone else in those unmanned baggage reclaim areas.
What if some crooked minded immoral person decides to swiftly pick up my luggage and run off with it? With all the luggage manufacturers coming up with same designs and colours, what if some careless oaf picks up my luggage instead of theirs and takes off?
These thoughts always run across my mind while walking towards the baggage reclaim area, and my worst airport fear came true the last time I was there.
We had no problem collecting our first bag. So far so good. As for our second bag, we stood and stood at the baggage claim belt but there was no sign of our second bag.
I started to get anxious, and just then spotted what I thought was my bag. Same colour and model as mine, but on second glance I knew it was not mine because it was not bulging from being over-packed. Plus, it did not have the fluorescent yellow lock that I had put on mine for double safety.
At this point, I had realised what must have happened but was in denial that my luggage had actually been taken by someone else, some careless oaf I was praying because there was no chance of getting my luggage back from some crooked minded immoral person.
Just then, my son mentioned that he had seen a woman with the same luggage leaving the area just as we were entering. Cannot take a little boy’s words seriously in such situations, but this time I took it as a confirmation that indeed there was no point waiting for my luggage to arrive. This was exactly the time for me to jump into action.
Now I started panicking. I realised that this was the bag that had all the gifts that we had brought back, and most importantly, it contained the designer handbag and belt which my sister had sent so lovingly for our dearest mother and father.
We had stayed with my sister during the vacation, and the whole time we were there she had eaten half of my head to deliver the gifts in perfect condition. “The ribbons should be intact,”; “Do not move the ribbons from its original place”; “The box should not have any dents” – these words echoed repeatedly into my brain.
I had given her a nonchalant assurance with all the confidence in the world not to be so worried, and now I had lost the very same luggage!
My life was flashing in front of my eyes because you know how dangerous and hazardous younger sisters can be. I knew that I needed to find that bag at any cost to be able to live happily ever after.
I sent my poor husband running towards the exit to see if he could spot any woman with our lost luggage. Now was my turn. I pushed my kid and other luggage on a trolley through the crowd to find a ground staffer of the airline we had flown in. Luckily we found the best one. She was very eager to help and did not waste a second after learning what had happened.
Since I was mindful enough (from being extremely frightful of my sister), I had the lookalike baggage with me, knowing that the stickers the airlines put on our luggage have a greater meaning than simply advertising their airline.
This was a smart move because the wonderful ground staffer took no time in identifying the details of the owner of that bag. She immediately made a call to her and asked her to come to the arrivals, where she would oversee the exchange of our luggage. I cannot tell you how relieved I was. All my organs thanked my brain profusely for not going into a panic mode and deserting them, leaving them at the mercy of my sister. She would have flayed me alive, taken out my organs and tortured them one by one.
After waiting for an eternity, or may be it was 15-20 minutes (I have all right to exaggerate because of the trauma I had to go through), a woman arrived with our bag. We were waiting at the arrivals. My husband was outside because, of course, he had exited to run after this woman and wouldn’t be allowed in unless he bought himself a ticket.
This woman, I cannot still believe how a grown up could be so mannerless and disrespectful. Okay, understood that she had taken our bag, which was many times heavier than hers and had a fluorescent yellow lock on it, by mistake, but she had the audacity to leave our bag at least 12 feet away (not exaggerating this time) from where we were waiting patiently, and took hers and left.
She left all of us in disbelief and amazement. I didn’t get any sorry, and the ground staffer didn’t get her thank you. No smiles or any polite gesture. Just left my luggage in the middle of nowhere, took hers from us, and trotted off with her head held high.
This woman had proved that not only was she a careless oaf, she was discourteous and lacked civic sense big time.
Anyway, after overcoming our shock, we shared pleasantries and I once again showered my thanks to the lovely ground staffer and headed on my way out to my husband, who had already got hold of our “lost” luggage.
So you see, I was put under shock after shock in a short period of time. And after everything was over, my older son breezed out with no knowledge of what we had gone through in the short period of time while he was visiting the washroom to answer nature’s call.
It was an experience with many lessons learnt. We told our children how they should not behave after making a mistake. They also learnt what to do in such a situation, and to be helpful towards others.
I learnt that little children can be trusted, and that they can give valuable inputs in such situations. I learnt that we shouldn’t pack all the valuables in one bag. It should be distributed amongst your other luggage.
And, the most important life lesson learnt is that, if your younger sister entrusts you with delivering gifts to your parents, carry those gifts as your carry-on luggage, without getting them out of your sight even for a moment. Believe me, the fear is immense, extreme and rigorous.
