Things that make you go hmmmm.... 1/16/13

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM..... 1/16/13

The team is assembled here in the boarding area.  We had a few issues checking in.  When I say "we" I mean me.  I somehow ended up with the new guy who felt it necessary to obey every rule to the letter.  He wouldn't average my bag weights even though between Lauren and I we had 4 bags or 76 pieces of luggage in our group of 19.  I understand that if a bag is too heavy that it is unsafe for the baggage handlers but I'm not talking about 20 pounds overweight here, I'm talking about a pound or 2.  

Then he asked to weigh my carry on luggage which was quite bizarre.  Out of our group of 19 he wanted to weigh 3 of our carry ons but nobody else's?  So I walked back to our group, grabbed our carry on bags and set it on the scale.  Of course those were too heavy since that was my luck so far in the scale department.  I asked him why it mattered if my carry on was too heavy if I would in fact be the one to carry it on, which is why it is called a "carry on".  I said it in the most respectful voice I could muster up even though I was getting somewhat annoyed.  :)  Plus at the same time I was trying to get the same guy to move our seats so that Lauren and I could have our own row since the flight was only half full. 

When he discovered that our carry ons were too heavy he had 3 suggestions.  I could 1) take out some of my heavier items and give it to someone else in our group to let them put it in THEIR carry on luggage 2) put some of the heavier items in a plastic bag and carry it separately or 3) weigh it on the scales upstairs as I boarded.  Does anyone else see the "Things that make you go hmmmmm...." possibilities with his 3 proposals?  First of all why would I take some of my items out and give them to a traveling companion and then make THEIR carry on too heavy?  I asked him that very question to which his answer was "Yes but I'm not going to weigh their carry on bag so it's okay if theirs are too heavy."  I'm not even kidding you, that's what he said.  

Let's move on to the "plastic bag" approach.  First of all, what the what?  What does it matter if my items are in a plastic bag or a carryon bag if I'm the one that will be handling said bags?  I told him I had an empty plastic bag in my carryon luggage (true story--I really did put an empty Target bag in there for dirty clothes!)  But what is the point of walking around 3 international airports like a bag lady or ill-prepared traveler?  Oh wait, that's me!  I represent that!

And last but certainly not least, let's discuss the "weighing it upstairs in the boarding area" approach.  What does it matter if I weigh the bag upstairs or downstairs?  Does it weigh less on the upstairs scale because we are closer to the moon up there?  Apparently physics is not this young man's strong suit.

Needless to say I went with Door #3.  After we waited a few hours in the terminal it was time to board.  Guess how many airline employees asked me to weigh my carry on luggage?  If you guessed ZERO then you are the winner of a bag of peanuts.

Some of you were expecting to log on to check our first blog post and read about how we are suffering for Jesus or praying through scriptures as we approach Kolkata but honestly I had to get past my funny encounter with the Emirates employee before I could move on.  Thanks for reading.  I promise my next installment will in fact be about our mission trip and not about luggage, clueless employees, or plastic bags