Saturday, November 19, 2005

The Idiots Go To India

Six months we've been planning this trip.  Six months at least.  Time enough to think of all the far-reaching aspects.  Time enough to apply for passports, send away for visas, to schedule shots.  All of that was completed in a timely manner; no sweat there.  Even our last minute details were well in hand.  I bragged of having time to relax yesterday afternoon.  You'd think I'd have learned not to tempt fate that way. 

 

Let me tell you about this morning.  We got up on time, our driver appeared on time, we hustled into the car and arrived at the airport at 6:05 AM.  Plenty of time for our 7:45 flight.  As our driver pulled away from the curb, Ritu did a quick once-over of our luggage.  Four suitcases on the cart.  Unfortunately, we'd packed five.  Yes, we managed to leave AN ENTIRE SUITCASE behind.  A quick call to the driver confirmed that it had not been left in the car.  Nope, it was back at the house.  THE HOUSE!  It was the biggest suitcase of all.  We borrowed it from our friend Dan and Debbie who refer to it as "The Black Hole".  Maybe that's  how we managed to overlook it.  Following many frantic phone calls, we arranged for our neighbor with a key to meet the driver back at our house to retrieve the suitcase.  (Which brings us to our Star Of The Day: Kenny Cohen.  Kenny, your mitzvah will not be soon forgotten!) 

 

Ritu stayed at the curb with a ticket agent until almost 7:30 waiting for it to arrive.  Time ran out and he had to get to the gate.  I write this on the plane not knowing if Suitcase #5 is on board with us.  The driver called to say he dropped it off  right after 7:30 and the ticket agent seemed optimistic that she could still get it on.  Only time will tell.

 

I will say that the Continental people were both pleasant and helpful.  I have no doubt that once we were gone, they shook their heads and wondered why in God's name we would attempt international travel.

 

Final Note:  We got here as did ALL of our suitcases!!  The traveling itself went well, but we're dead exhausted and I'll try to update more soon.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cohen family....you are da bomb!!  Yay and hooray for you.  
(When this is all over, we'll investigate the psychological as well as the logistical implications of leaving the mother of all suitcases behind.)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that you got there safely with ALL of your suitcases !!  But damn, there went my excuse to join you !!

Anonymous said...

So happy to hear you arrived safe and sound J!

Anonymous said...

Guess you should have put one of the kids in the suitcase so you wouldn't forget it???

GLAD you made it OK - enjoy!