I gathered my bag from the overhead, jostled for my position in the aisle, and walked out of the terminal with my iPad still stuffed in the back pocket of the seat in front of where I sat!
Later that night, I reached into my carry-on bag, where I had carefully kept the device during the entire trip, and my heart dropped through the floor when I realized what I had done! It was about 1:00 in the morning at this point; we didn't arrive until 11PM, and there were long waits at the baggage claim and for the shuttle. I frantically called the 24-hour number for Southwest, and the lady there - who no doubt had fielded many such calls - calmly told me what to do and who to call and urged me to have "positive thoughts" about the outcome.
I did as instructed and called the local baggage office, which was closed, as expected, and left a message about the missing iPad, flight information, my name, etc., and I also called a second number which was the official "lost article" number, and another kind lady took down the same information for the official lost item record in the computer. Then I went to bed and dreamed about missing iPads.
At 7AM the local Southwest Baggage Office called and told me that they had my iPad.
Never. Never, was I so grateful to be wakened by an early phone call! There was great rejoicing, because that which had been lost was found!
It's now later in the morning, all is well in iPad land, and I'm checking email. One message is from the Circulation manager of the American Statesman, stating that they would resume delivery of the newspaper today, as requested. Only problem is, they never stopped delivering the paper while we were gone, as I also requested! After a few days, our neighbor noticed the build-up of papers and began gathering them, but for a while they lay in the yard and loudly declared our absence.
"Boy, am I going to give someone at the paper a piece of my mind!" I said.
"No you're not," my smart wife said. "Today, you are going to be grateful. This is going to be a grateful day."
At this time of year especially, those words really struck home. In fact, I'm going to make that my resolution for the coming year. My only resolution. "Today, I am going to be grateful."
- So, instead of sending a snarky email to the Statesman Circulation department, I'll politely point out that while I'm grateful that they restarted the paper on time, I would have been even more so if they had stopped it as requested.
- And if service at a restaurant is slow, Ill be grateful that I will eventually have something good to eat; that doesn't happen for everyone.
- Or if the rental car was a fiasco, I'll be grateful that we traveled safely, with no roadside trauma, and I'll send a letter to some VP in the company, pointing out how helpful the counter manager was.
- And if those about me upset or disappoint me, I'll be grateful for their love and friendship.
- And when I really mess up (hard to imagine, isn't it?) I'll be grateful for the opportunity to improve and become better.
- And when problems and troubles pile up, I'll be grateful for a Father that sustains me far beyond any setback.
- And I'll strive to recognize daily the goodness and blessings that I receive, and be grateful for them.
How about you?
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3 comments:
I consider myself a grateful person.... until people don't live up to my expectactations. Then I'm an annoyed person. I think one (especially those of us living in The Land of Excess) always has room for more gratitude. Thanks for leading the way. So very thankful you got your ipad back!
I am grateful for family and friends and the fact that I can still see enough to use the computer.
I am also grateful that when I dropped Dick's new iPad ( when he was handing it to me) that it hit the carpet instead of the kitchen floor and was unharmed. A really, really bad moment.
Bob Bob Bob
The real lesson to learn here (yes I've had to learn it myself without the outcome you received) NEVER PUT ANYTHING IN THE SEAT BACK POCKET!
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