BY: Cheryl Smith
I’m so happy!
I had given up hope that I would get my laptop returned.
On a trip back to Dallas on March 18, I planned on working the entire plane ride, that is, until I ate my meal.
Then my body said otherwise because “itis” settled in.
You may have heard of or experienced that feeling that comes over a person after they have eaten.
Within minutes, you go to sleep.
So I opened my laptop and before I could type my byline, “itis” overtook me.
I put my laptop in the pocket in front of me and drifted off.
It was a good sleep and when I awakened we had landed and pulled up to the gate.
Unfortunately, I was not fully awake and as I rushed to gather my things to leave the plane, I totally forgot to retrieve my laptop.
Before I drove off from the airport, I realized I didn’t have my laptop.
It was approaching midnight and the search was on to find someone to locate my lifeline.
I thought that surely since my flight was the last one of the evening, it would be a simple task.
But it wasn’t.
I was devastated and after several trips out to the airport in the coming days, I began to accept that I would never ever see my Apple laptop with the BADST label on the front.
So, I purchased a new one, and not a day passed without me praying, thinking about, and hoping that someone would return it.
All kinds of thoughts went through my head as I wondered if there was an American Airlines covert operation that spirited my computer away.
There were times I became angry and said I’d never fly the airline again because I couldn’t fathom how with all the technology and Big Brother, someone couldn’t locate my laptop.
Then still there were other times I tried to put a positive spin on my situation.
After all it had become a distraction and with so much going on, the last thing I needed was for my thoughts to be diverted from the current war destroying my peace of mind.
I flew a few more times and remember discussing my laptop with a very nice and comforting American Airlines employee who told me to keep hope alive.
I wasn’t as optimistic but I appreciated the effort to calm my feelings.
Surprisingly I wasn’t alone in the “lost my laptop on the plane or at the airport” club. According to a decades-old study, upwards of 600,000 laptops are left in airports annually and about 65% are never found or reclaimed.
Then Saturday, May 23, I received an email that read: “Hello Cheryl,
Let’s get you reunited with your lost item.”
I had the biggest smile. When my laptop was placed in my hands, the only thing that seemed out of order was that the BADST sticker was missing.
Now I was proud of that sticker because not everyone can say they are from the Beta Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority!
Anyway, I’m not going to try and figure out what happened while the laptop was out of my possession. I just thank American Airlines for returning it to me.
Now if they could just bring back those “Uglies Sweet Potato Chips!”
