Travelling Light—Part 2
Musings—Feb 15, 2010
The Blessings and Challenges of Carry-on Luggage
Part 2 The Mysterious Aura and the Dark Cloud
Thank you for allowing me to rant a bit in my last blog. I was told by someone near and dear to me that that blog was showing my ‘bias’ about carry-on bags a bit strongly. Everyone has their preferences about how they like to do things. I just happen to like to know where my luggage is when I travel.
I don’t like waving goodbye to my luggage at the ticket counter and saying a silent prayer that I hope we will meet again. And I especially hate to stand by the airport luggage carousel waiting to see if my luggage comes out from behind those dirty plastic sheets that seem to be a mainstay of every airport. Seeing all those people standing around like zombies waiting for their suitcase to appear and then performing like vultures grabbing at the first sign of a suit case that resembles theirs.
I do however enjoy two things about standing at the carousel waiting…. waiting…. and waiting. I like to people watch and everyone standing there waiting with me is a captive audience for my entertainment. No one is foolish enough to move away from the carousel. After all they might miss their suitcase’s appearance and arrive just in time to see it disappear behind those dirty plastic curtains again, never know how long or if it will ever come out again.
A second thing I like about waiting by the carousel is to observe the creative ways that others have ‘personalized’ their bag so they are sure to get the right one. Ribbon and yarn wrapped around handles seems to be a favourite method for many people. Blessed be the person who doesn’t do something to distinguish their bag from all the others. Do you know how many black, non-descript suitcases there are that have no noticeable uniqueness that would even remotely stand out from all the other black non-descript suitcases that are going around and around on that carousel?
I recall a trip back to Nova Scotia from Gander, Newfoundland a number of years ago. I stood exhausted and weary from my trip and I can still see in my mind’s eye that small blue backpack (with wheels!) safely enclosed in a sealed plastic bag coming towards me on the carousel. I got a chuckle out of seeing the contents of that backpack strew about the inside of the plastic bag. I thought lucky for that person to have it in that handy plastic bag since the zipper on the backpack broke and the contents of said backpack got spewed out. I must have been even more tired than I thought because it was only as it was almost past me that I recognized those belongings. They were mine!!!!!
And then I remembered. I didn’t take my usual bag on the trip. I purchased that sweet little backpack with wheels. And then the other details came to me. When I was checking through the Gander airport the baggage check attendant suggested that since my bag had some some straps dangling I could put it in one of their large plastic bags so the straps wouldn’t get caught in any of their conveyer belts. I thought that was a brilliant idea, so I gladly put it into the bag before I waved goodbye to it.
And wasn’t I glad to know that my belongings were at least inside the bag, and not scattered over the airplane cargo hold, the luggage cart and the carousel.
That was a bag that was not a carry-on. It could have been, but I decided to check-it so I wouldn’t have to be bothered with it once on the plane. Umph. I think that was soon to be the last time I checked in a bag.
I hope you can see why I hate entrusting my luggage to someone else.
So about the ‘mysterious aura and the dark cloud’. If you look closely at the people standing by the carousel you might notice the dark cloud that surrounds them. They are uptight, stressed out and anxious. They don’t know if they will be the next victim of the airport luggage system.
Now notice the person strutting off the plane pulling their small carry-on suitcase behind them or gleefully swinging their backpack over their shoulders as they head towards the airport exit doors. No waiting around for them. No uptight, tense people there. Just people strutting with confidence and glowing with a beautiful mysterious aura floating along with them.
