December 23, 2013
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My wife, masterful in her assertiveness
Alicia flew in from Medellín last Friday. I drove over to Orlando after work to pick her up.
She had to get up very early to catch a 7:30 a.m. flight to Bogotá on LAN, claim her bags and turn them in at Delta, take a five-hour flight to Atlanta, go through Immigration and Customs, recheck her bags, and fly to Orlando.
Everything went well until her last flight. At the gate in Atlanta, she was in group 3 and was the last to board. A uniformed lady at the gate grabbed her carry-on, tagged it, and gave it to a baggage handler at the door to the plane.
“No!” said Alicia. “I’m carrying that on. It’s fragile.” (It contained several buildings from a Christmas set, and after the fiasco with my carry-on that got sent to the wrong country, we had made sure it wasn’t overfilled so it would fit in the test rack.)
The baggage handler hesitated, looking at Alicia and the lady as they argued. The lady insisted it had to be gate-checked, and ordered her to board the plane. Alicia refused. “I’m not moving until I get my bag back,” she said.
No one within earshot spoke Spanish, but it was obvious what she was saying. The rep got more and more furious, finally yelling, “Get out!”
“You get out!” Alicia responded in accented English, not even knowing what it meant.
Finally one of the pilots came out to see what was going on. “Do you speak English? Italian?” he asked Alicia.
“No English. Español,” she said.
The pilot said something, and the lady, clearly irate, took the bag from the baggage handler and gave it to Alicia, while the baggage handler grinned ear to ear. It appeared to Alicia that he was delighted to see the pushy rep get her comeuppance.
Comments (12)
What a story! I am glad Alicia got her bags back. That would’ve been frustrating for sure, especially after having to do all the other stuff for customs and one long flight already. I’ve never been a big fan of the Atlanta airport (though the moving sidewalks and the underground train are pretty cool).
I am glad you are together again. Many happy blessings to you both. Merry Christmas!
Thank you. Yes, she’d already had to do security in Medellin, collect her bags and submit them to Delta in Bogota, security in Bogota, the long immigration line in Atlanta, collect her bags and go through Customs and submit them again, security in Atlanta… so this was one more thing in an exhausting day.
A friend commented that he’s encountered a lot of rudeness at the Atlanta airport.
I’m glad she a (and her bag) made it safely. Flying used to be fun, but not anymore.
I don’t understand why rude people work for airlines – or anywhere!!!! Merry Christmas to you and Yours!!!!
A Blessed and Merry Christmas to you and Alicia, Tim! And to all of your family members!
ChristmasHUGS!!!
Wow. I am glad she was able to get her bag onto the plane. We had to check our bags on a flight and we were lucky – it was on the way home and we would have been fine even if they had been misrouted… still good that she “won”!
Good for her for standing up to them.
BRAVO, Alicia! You are a 10!
Bravo Alicia ! What an energetic woman!
And love overcomes all of things tending to block it .
Happy TIM!
I guesss you got a happy Christmas .
In friendship
Michel
i wish to you both a happy and loving year
In fiendship
Michel
… and I hope you got a great New Year Day with all of your children,TiM
In friendship
michel
Thank you, Michel. I had a great visit with my children! It was sad to see them go.