I'm So Very Sorry

Following my New York trip and having returned to Buffalo Airport, upon picking up my luggage I noticed that my suitcase was in fact open.  Dawn commented that occasionally they will go through your bag but there should be a sticker indicating so or a slip inside the suitcase to let me know the TSA had gone through my bag.  Not giving it any further thought, I zipped up my bag and longed for the car ride home to be over.

Upon returning home, I unpacked (noticing no notice indicating that anyone had gone through my bag), retrieved our souveniers and tossed dirty laundry into the hamper.   It took me an hour or so to realize that the one thing Gage really, really wanted when he went to NYC was missing.

Side note:  Gage was adamant that we head over to Canal St in NYC so he could get a "bling bling" 'fauxlex' (see what I did there?)  {fake Rolex} watch.  On Sunday when he was feeling a little bit better we did just that.  And after haggling (much to Gage's embarrassment and fear) with an A-typical gangsta New Yorker (who was actually very nice, though at 12 a.m. in a dark alley I have to question if I'd think the same) who had a questionable large scar on his right cheek, we walked away with a knock off Bentley wrist watch for 80 bones.  It's actually a pretty nice watch regardless. 

To say I was angry is putting it quite mildly.  I was livid.  F*cking livid.  I don't recall a previous time in my life where the pit of anger in my gut was so intense.  The poor kid had such a lousy weekend, considering how much he was looking forward to this trip, and then the one thing he really wanted is taken out of our bag at the airport.  I immediately emailed a complaint to the airline expressing my anger and explaining to them how I will never fly with them again and I'll let every single person in my world (via Facebook, my blog or vocally) know what happened when I flew with them.  I filed a formal complaint not really expecting any sort of retribution as I bought the watch on the street and had no receipt.  Needless to say in the end the airline will not compensate for lost jewelry when it's put in your checked luggage (note to self and all my readers) and so I ended up with a $75.00 voucher towards future air travel with said airline (wait a minute, I already said I wasn't going to fly with you again, so why bother??).  So all said and done it's probably a really, really good thing that I have to eat crow in this situation. 

I'm not one who easily admits wrong, it's actually a little painful for me, but in this case I was wrong.  I didn't know it until yesterday though.   During my weekly laundry chore after doing 3 loads and getting down to the bottom of my hamper I scooped up a bunch of socks to throw in the washer and I noticed the weight didn't feel right.  Upon further inspection I discovered the said missing watch tucked inside one of the socks.  I immediately felt awful and glee at the same time.  So I am happy to say Gage has been reunited with his watch and I'm eating crow. 

So, Dear Delta Airline:

I am so very sorry I mistakingly accused you of running a shoddy operation and employing untrustworthy assholes.  I'm sorry I was mean to you.  I'm sorry I clearly didn't go through my laundry with a finer toothed comb, but I assure you I did look diligently before writing to you.  If it's any consolation I ruined two days of my life that I will never get back.  I am also very grateful that I found the watch because I will be honest, your reply and solution would NOT have appeased me one bit.  So for both of our sakes, thank goodness the watch turned up.  I also promise I will fly with Delta again and I promise not to use the $75 off voucher that you sent me even though I probably still could.  I do not deserve it so I won't use it.  And I want you to know that I've posted this sorry letter on my blog so all my friends/family/readers will know that I was in the wrong, not Delta Air.  Oops, my bad!

Sincerely,
Holly