Chapter 20: Epilogue, Part Three: "You were on my mind"
The Prodigal Bag?
05.10.2023 - 05.10.2023 75 °F
"You were on my mind"
Thursday, October 5, 2023
When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind...
And
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got bags to find
This was a #3 hit single and the title song on the 1965 A&M album recorded by We Five. It was the #1 ear worm in my head this morning when I awoke.
I grabbed the iPhone and clicked on the Find My App. Our wayward bag has returned to the Kempegowda International Airport Devanahalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It has inexplicably logged many miles since it was last there, making stop after stop in and around Bangalore.
Is this a New Testament tale? Luke (15: 11-32), Jesus relates the parable of the prodigal son. A son asks his father for his inheritance and leaves to wander about and spend his wealth. After much misdirection, he returns. The man forgives his son. "He once was lost, but now is found."
But, is my bag found?
This morning, I received communication from British Airways at 9:02. Then again at 9:04. Again at 10:03 and again at 10:04. Then, for good measure, once more at 11:01.
Is it reassuring that they still don't know where the bag is? Is it reassuring that they are now asking me, multiple times as if in a panic themselves, to provide them with a list of items that are inside our wandering case? Is it reassuring? I propose that in the face of optimism, BA has delivered to me just a hint of pessimism.
At 1:00 this afternoon, as B4's urging, I placed another telephone call to the crack BA Baggage Service Team. BA has a flight from BLR to LHR at 6:50am their time, 5:20pm here in Kansas City. We are hoping the bag will be loaded onto that flight--if they can find the bag, that is.
That call was greeted by an irritated and aggravated BA employee who chastised me for calling them so many times. When I explained that I possessed information they did not possess, information that would be of assistance to them, he made it clear to me that he did not, the airline did not, the people in India did not, everyone involved did not wish to hear from me again. I decided to inquire as to whether or not they had the capability of "scanning" the bag once they had possession of it. "No," he told me. He told me--and this is not a joke--that the bag was last scanned in Barcelona and would not be scanned again until it reached Houston. I, gobsmacked, was speechless.
On their website, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration makes it clear that "Airlines are required to compensate passengers for reasonable, verifiable, and actual incidental expenses that they may incur while their bags are delayed - subject to the maximum liability limits." However, on their website, the U.S. Department of Transportation says: "For most INTERNATIONAL flights, a treaty called the Montreal Convention applies to the carriage of baggage. The maximum baggage liability for flights covered by the Montreal Convention is currently 1,288 Special Drawing Rights (approximately $1,700.00 US) per passenger. This is the most that airlines must pay a passenger for a lost, damaged, or delayed bag. Airlines are free to pay more than the limit, but are not required to do so."
From what I am learning about British Airways, I suspect that they are not among those who consider themselves "free to pay more than the limit," because they are not interested in my assistance to help them pay me nothing at all.
But back to the multiple emails from BA this morning, each of which requested that I provide them with an itemized list of what is inside the mis-directed luggage. That is a difficult thing to do if one wishes to undertake it with any degree of precision. How many pairs of my Bamboo Sports 95% bamboo, 5% spandex underwear, color grey, were in that bag? It think five. But, what if it was four? Am I a fraudster if I say one pair more than they find--if they find it?
When we travel, we carry a flimsy collapsable backpack to facilitate carrying things when going to the pool or out on an excursion. It was inside the missing suitcase. But, what brand is it and what did I pay for it? I don't know. B4 has gowns that are now astray. Should she list the retail price of the gowns, the price she paid (less because she is a smart and resourceful shopper) or the replacement cost? That $1,700 limit has been reached before I get to put a dollar figure on my skivvies.
Is all of that actually necessary? If they would just go out to the place that I have told them the bag now is, and then lay hands upon it, and then, (unreasonable to ask) put it on their 6:50am flight to Heathrow--SCANNING IT IN AS THEY DID SO--no itemization would be required.
But, alas, I am an unreasonable passenger, paying business class ticket rates, desiring that they do what they promised they would do which is to deliver my bag--along with me--to my destination airport.
Checking the Find My app a half-hour prior to the BA flight which I hoped the bag would make, I see that the app says our bag hasn't moved. There are three possible explanations for that. 1. It really hasn't moved. 2. It has moved but it wasn't near to an iPhone to register that fact. 3. It has moved but the battery died.
I am saddened by the fact that there is no "ole oak tree" outside the Alameda Tower to which I might "tie a yellow ribbon." What do I long for? Tony Orlando and Dawn said it best back in 1973.
"I'm comin' home, I've done my time
Now I've got to know what is and isn't mine
If you received my letter telling you I'd soon be free
Then you'll know just what to do
If you still want me, if you still want me
Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the ole oak tree"
