I'VE always envied those cool, experienced travelers you see bounding off an airliner with a feather-weight garment bag over one shoulder and briefcase in hand. They stride disdainfully past the baggage carousels to the still-empty car rental counters. There, after snapping up the last available decent car, they serenely motor off to their destinations. The grinch
of lost luggageMeanwhile, I'm headed to baggage claim, lugging coats, hats, shopping bags and a 30-pound carry-on. There, I wait for suitcases and maybe golf clubs or a dive bag. Assuming all this stuff appears, I schlepp it to the now-crowded rental car counter. After a 15-minute wait, I get a three-year-old subcompact that smells of cigars. Would I like to return this gem with the tank full or empty? Choices -- that's what America wants.
Lately, the stuff hasn't been appearing. When my wife and I took a trip to Europe recently, our bags failed to arrive with us on the flight out and again coming back. We blamed it on those airlines.
I'm writing, however, on Christmas Day in Nebraska. There isn't much you'd call "foreign" here. The cars are by Ford and GM, the tractors by John Deere and International Harvester, and our airline flew the friendly, domestic skies to this little corner of the world.
Wearing the same clothes for three days didn't improve our holiday spirits, but our bags of gifts finally showed up on Christmas Eve. Next year, everybody on my list gets phone cards -- I'm traveling light.