Sad, Angry, Frustrated!!!

Friday, June 11, 2010
Once again I was teased awake by a dream, this time in a panic! I dreamed I was taking pictures somewhere in Europe. I reached into my camera bag to change lenses when I suddenly noticed the bag was empty. I awoke with my heart racing, a feeling of certain dread filling me. Jumping out of bed and rushing to the suitcase where I had packed my very expensive Olympus E-510 camera, I searched frantically. GONE! Knowing it was useless but unable to stop myself, I tore through the 3 remaining suitcases that were stacked along the wall of our temporay bedroom (just as I had done that first day searching for my laptop and TJ's Wii). And just as before it was impossible to find what was no longer there. Bursting into tears I sat on the edge of the bed, my sense of loss overwhelming.

Not only was this camera very expensive - one I had dreamed of owning for so many years and so happy when I finally got it, what it held was even more precious! I had backed up the pictures from my laptop (yes, the one that was stolen) onto extra SD's that I had tucked into my camera case. Looking at it now I realize that putting them both in checked baggage at the same time is like having both parents fly on the same plane while leaving your kids home with nana...no problem unless the plane goes down! OK, a drastic comparrison but the one that comes to mind.

I begin searching the internet for claim forms to report stolen items from checked baggage. Lufthansa has a really cool site but there is nothing that really helps me. They address many issues like missed, delayed or cancelled flights, missing or damaged luggage, what to do if you leave your glasses on board - but it's like they don't want to offer a solution for stolen property as if ignoring it makes it not happen. More likely they don't want to alarm their customers by alerting them to this danger. What I did find plenty of was post after post of people who had things stolen and their frustration at never getting any satisfaction from the airlines. Not just Lufthansa, all of them. Of course the obvious thing is to never put anything in your checked baggage you don't want to lose, right? Sounds simple. In my case I had few options. My camera case with lenses was large and heavy as was my laptop and TJ's Wii, not to mention I already had maxed out my allowable carry-ons with items that are essential when traveling alone with a 6 year old.

I have spent the remainder of my day writing letters, finding a place to make copies of my baggage claim stubs, airline ticket and receipt for my laptop (yep - for some reason I had that in my papers instead of on a boat with the rest of our stuff), and then finding a place in Papa where I could fax it all to the 2 Lufthansa #'s I found (one in Germany and one in NY). I'm not hopeful this will be addressed, let alone resolved, but I had to do something. sigh I need to make my peace with this since it happened and there's no way to change it. I've had to make my peace with so many things the last 6 months - I should be getting good at it!

On a happier note, we went and signed out lease this morning. We will be allowed to move in on Tuesday. I'm excited to be able to start getting settled here.