Where in the World...

Shanghai - 10 PM local time, 2/28/01

Just now. The knock on the door woke me from a troubled sleep. A squeal of joy. Never have I been so happy to see poor old scuffed and beat up Big Yellow. They had to make sure I could officially identify them (like how many big yellow hardshells and black with silver stripe duffle bags fly into China every day???) and not a moment too soon. We must check out of this hotel in just nine hours to catch our flight to Kunming. It would have been immensely complicated to reunite me with my stuff after leaving Shanghai...

I cannot help but wonder what would (or would not) have happened had Kirk not been there to insist upon attention to this. Would the bags have languished in San Francisco for another week or so until someone noticed them?

May this be a cautionary tale to any who just assume that they and their luggage will magically land in the same spot, and that the airlines are always doing all they can to make that happen.

This is how Kirk describes the experience from his end:

I enjoyed being able to help you out today, as frustrating as it was at times I was determined to crack the case. It seems as though only about one out of six calls or so scores someone who actually wants to help you. In this case it was Victoria, a baggage handler at SFO and Judy, a Continental baggage claims helper from Houston. Both women totally sympathized with your situation and took it upon themselves to go the extra mile to provide us with some quality information. I became upset with one of the Continental people....I explained to him that we were talking about a loyal customer and a woman who flies silver elite status and that this woman deserved a team of continental employees working on her behalf. Make some calls...find out whats happened!!...the moron.

And that is the last I am going to go on about the luggage thing.

Unless they lose it in today's, flight, of course.