Recently, I got the chance to visit Beirut. I was traveling from Manchester to Beirut via Cairo and the entire journey took less than 48 hours. As usual, the first question that usually itches my brain on such occasions once again came to the fore. What on earth am I going to wear? To me finding an answer to this question is even difficult than preparing caramel color used in dark-colored soft drinks. I am sure that even Google cannot help me resolve this issue.
As a sophisticated Ph.D. student who knows her research methods by heart, I surveyed my wardrobe extensively and then I took different samples of outfits’ combinations and packed all of them, that included pairs of shoes, bags and all travel necessities. I headed to the airport three hours before boarding time. The check-in staff told me that the flight was delayed by an hour. Not a problem, I had plenty of transit time at the Cairo airport and an hour is not a problem. However, the one-hour wait was extended to three and I started to panic that I might not catch my Beirut flight. We arrived at Cairo airport and I barely made it to Beirut flight. The pressing question was “will the luggage’s crew have sufficient time to transfer my very well-researched suitcase to the Beirut flight?” I had great doubts but had no choice. I boarded the plane to Beirut and kept on praying for a miracle. I arrived at Beirut and went to the baggage collection point. I waited impatiently until my worst fear was confirmed, no bag. I stayed there for a while trying to collect my thoughts, no bag means no clothes for the interview scheduled in Beirut. I was running out of time.
I went to the baggage desk to lodge my complaint. The employees were attending to passengers’ requests with no expressions on their faces. I felt a gush of anger, as I wanted them to feel sorry for me. For God’s sake, the person in front of them had nothing to wear for her TV appearance and had no toothbrush and absolutely nothing. They needed to show some sympathy. If someday, I were to become in-charge of the lost baggage unit at any airport, I would employ people just to offer sympathies to people who lose their luggage. I was completely engrossed in my thoughts until an official once again asked me to describe my lost bag. I was told that it might arrive on the next plane from Cairo. I went to the hotel and I was exhausted. I slept a bit and woke up to go directly to the airport to be told that there was no update and if I wanted I could wait for the Cairo plane and check for bags myself. The plane arrived and still the bag was not there. I had no clothes for the interview. To double check, I asked the guards to let me check the baggage storage who let me in. The place was full of bags of different sizes. I was again lost in my thoughts. I thought of people who lost their luggage and could have been in a more difficult situation than mine. For instance, a bride losing her wedding dress or one of those bags might belong to a refugee forced to flee his/her country without any other possession than whatever he/she could cramp into the bag.
Thinking about others helped me heave a sigh of relief and the intensity of my problem reduced.
I decided to act according to plan B that I had devised while thinking about others. I ended up filming the interview wearing my same travel outfit and I talked about my lost bag incident, which added flavor to my segment.
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@ HatoonKadi
