Devices

Photo by Matthew Turner on Pexels

I'm sure you've been asking yourself the same question:

If technology is supposed to make our lives easier, how come it keeps getting us in trouble?

It must have been the year 2002 or 2003. We were on our way to California, which I consider to be my second home since I lived there for a while.

This trip was off to a rocky start. We arrived at the airport, and the departure area was a mess. People and bags everywhere. Turned out our flight was going to be delayed by several hours as the plane that was supposed to take us to Chicago O'Hare, was still somewhere between Iceland and Switzerland. 

"We sent you and e-mail." The clerk said. "That way you wouldn't have had to leave your home till much later."

Again, it was the early 2000s. Nobody had smart phones. If you're supposed to leave home at 5am, the last thing you're going to do is to start your computer and check your mail. Right?

Plus I had already put my laptop into my suitcase.

Why did I take my laptop on a private trip?

I was planning on taking pictures. Lots of them. The digital cameras back then came with SD cards that had limited storage capacity. So I needed to save the pictures onto my laptop every night and delete them from the SD card. That way I wouldn't find myself somewhere in the desert or at the beach with a camera that said "sorry, no more memory." Also we planned on updating our website.

Why did I pack my laptop into a bag?

It was heavy. So was the power supply unit. I was not going to carry it with me, especially considering we had a several hours' layover in Chicago, and frankly going to the bathroom with a regular purse was tedious enough, but with an additional laptop case?

Back to the ground staff member. He was correct. The airline did send an information that would have been helpful, had we read it.

So we waited.

Eventually we got to board our plane, and we were on our way.

While in the beginning we were worried about how to spend several hours in Chicago, we were now worried if we were going to make our connecting flight at all. This was the airline's problem though. If we missed it, they had to book us on a later flight.

I can't remember which scenario occurred. 

Fact is, we arrived in LAX at some point. 

Both flights combined, we had been in the air for about 15 hours. Add to that the nine hours' time difference between Switzerland and the US West Coast. We were beat. 

The plan was to grab our bags, get our rental car, drive to the nearby hotel and fall into bed.

Not so fast!

What happened?

My bag didn't arrive. 

We had to get in line at the Lost and Found Counter, along with a bunch of other passengers,

"What does your bag look like?" They asked.

Duh, it's an average black travel suitcase. A trolley with a handle. Here's our stickers with the numbers.

Photo by Edgar Okioga on Pexels

"Where will you be staying?"

Holiday Inn Express at Airport LAX - only for one night though. After that we're driving to San Diego. We don't have an accommodation booked yet.

"In that case you will need to call this number and let them know your whereabouts."

I cursed myself. 

That's what I got for traveling light.  I had always had faith in the airlines. On all my trips, never had they lost a bag of mine?!

I always thought - and still do - that people who take multiple items into the cabin are selfish. If everybody checked their baggage and only brought the allowed amount of carry-on items, there'd be enough space for everybody in the overhead bins.

So now I was getting punished by not having my toiletries, a PJ and some clothes on me.

A word about toiletries. After 9/11, you were only allowed to take miniature bottles. I wear contacts. I have long-ish hair. I use conditioner. I shower, I use body lotion, I use facial toner, I use facial cream. Am I really, really supposed to purchase every item in travel size?

Photo by Timur Weber on Pexels

I sure wished I had that time.

The hotel gave me a toothbrush, I slept in a T-Shirt borrowed from hubby who at the time was still my boyfriend. 

The next morning we called to ask about my bag. 

It had not appeared at LAX yet. 

We drove to San Diego, checked into a hotel, and as soon as we arrived, we let the airline know the address. 

Was there any estimate when I may expect my bag?

"It may be a couple of days. We appreciate your patience."

We went shopping. I used the hotel guest laundry because I don't like to wear unwashed new clothes. 

Every couple of hours we called the airline. in order to do so, we had to be in our hotel room. Our early 2000 mobile phones activated in Europe, were not equipped to place calls within the U.S.

Still nothing.

We were supposed to move on to Arizona, but I was afraid, by the time we'd have an address, the bag may have arrived in San Diego. 

Should we stay for another day? Should we leave? How hard could it be to find a bag? Don't they have computer systems that know where a scanned piece of baggage was located at all times?

We decided to drive to San Diego Airport before leaving the area and ask in person. 

Sure enough, a ground staff member checked our sticker, shuffled to a storage space and reappeared, hauling my bag. It had been sitting there for at least a day. No idea why we weren't notified.

I was relieved to have it back, we loaded it into our trunk, and we were on our way to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which was gorgeous, by the way. Never had I seen cactus that tall!

Photo by Backroad Packers on Unsplash

As expected I took tons of pictures, and I couldn't wait to download and look at them on my laptop! 

After dinner we arrived at the hotel, where I opened my suitcase. Yay, my shampoo and lotions! My PJs, my jeans! Where was my notebook though?

I unpacked every single item, and laid them out on the hotel bed. My laptop was not among them.

I couldn't believe it.

Somebody opened my bag, removed my notebook and kept it?

What the h***?

Once again, I called the airline.

"The bag has been picked up" They informed me.

Ha, no kidding, 

Something is missing from the bag though! I want it back!

"You need to come back and file a missing item's complaint."

I can't come to the counter in San Diego, we're over 300 miles away.

"In that case, you may download the file from our website."

Using what? My missing stolen computer? 

Good thing the next hotel we stayed at in Phoenix had a business center, from where we filed our complaint. We also sent an e-mail to our insurance company back home to ask how to proceed in case the laptop didn't make it back to me.

Then we went to Best Buy and got an additional SD card, so I could keep taking pictures. 

Sounds like a no brainer. Why didn't I do this in the first place?

Well, back then the costs were much higher than today, and the storage capacity was a fraction of today's memory card.

So we ended up having a nice trip.

My notebook was lost forever. My insurance paid for it, minus a deductible. The airline paid a lump sum to compensate for the clothes and toiletries I had to buy in a hurry, and from  then on I traveled by necessity with a small luggage, which contains my stuff for the first night and the next morning.

I am happy to tell you that so far this has been the first and only time a piece of baggage of mine got lost.

How about you? Any cases of lost bags?