C'est la vie

After work today, I headed to the airport to file a claim for a lost item through Air Europa. I went against my own will, let's say, and only because I had been given the telephone run around the previous night, passed on to one office from another. I must've asked for Lost and Found a million times, and was constantly referred to Luggage Services, who kept passing me to a different office.

Afterwards I tried to see if I couldn't send a message by email. Even if it took weeks for a reply, at least I would have proof of an attempt at reconciliation. And, of course, something was wrong with either both of my browsers (Firefox and IE) or something was wrong with the website, and of course, there was no other way to send an email besides filling out a form.

Exasperated, I once called the general customer service number and tried to explain my situation (calmly, because the loss is my fault.)

The very patient woman on the other line recommended that I call the various numbers that I'd already dialed, and to make my way to Barajas to file a reclamación in person. So, off I went, asked one of three representatives at the service desk. Of course, she had to direct me to the adjacent office...that was closed. I hightailed it to the metro and sulked all the way home.

Sure, there were a lot of unfortunate though overall insignificant occurrences during what was supposed to be a relaxing week and a half off. I became upset, but quickly got over it and "dealt."

Losing my camera is another matter.

All the little things kept piling up, and this was just the icing on the cake. I've not yet given up on retrieving the camera, although I keep trying to convince myself that it's "just" a camera, that I've done without one before, that it's one among many items that I can do without, but that's not the point. For the lone, introverted traveler like myself, the camera (much like my journal) is an important tool for documentation. For memory.

I don't necessarily want to boast about where I've been, or what I've seen; I just want to remember.

It may be foolish to hope for its reappearance, magically or not. The friend I visited during this trip jokingly referred to karma, and despite being the skeptic that I am, I wonder if she may not be right. If luck has anything to do it with it, then mine's definitely been skewed.



(Image: From a mousepad available here)