It’s really hard to maintain a good rage when you are in a beautiful place such as Haarlem and when you are raging about issues that really are, well, there’s no other way to define them, but as first world problems.
But, oh my my Monday had its issues. Some years from now, we may well laugh, but not yet.
It started well enough. Well, as well as any day that starts with the alarm going off at 6:00. Yes, that’s a.m.
So the alarm didn’t let us down. And the cab arrived right at 6:30 to take us to the airport. And the driver was really nice, and loaded our six suitcases and two backpacks with a precision that showed he had done it before. Probably several times a day before.
He got us to the airport in really good time. In fact we arrived before our airline’s desks were even open. And Oh My Goodness Me, the airline saw the hundreds of people already lined up and opened the desks early. Unheard of excellent service. The line up had six coils, but even still we were through it not speedily, but in good time. Flight leaves at 9:15, and we are through the line up and into the security line up just after 8:30. That too went smoothly. Although I did manage to set off the alarms in spite of my bra-without-an-underwire. I’ve no idea what set it off, but body scan here I come, and I’m through. Ken’s false knee set it off too. But soon we are all through.
Plane is late arriving, so boarding doesn’t begin at 9, as expected. But eventually it does begin. We are frequent travellers on KLM, so although we don’t have business class tickets, we do have “sky priority” so we board with the zone two group.
And then the sitting starts. At least KLM explains things. (I say this with slight tongue in cheek, thinking back to the experience of flying Air Canada and watching our flight suddenly erased from the flight board with no announcement, no information, and no helpful staff to ask questions of.) As we watch through the window and see them still loading luggage several minute past the scheduled take off time, the captain makes an announcement. “Labour shortages in Glasgow airport means that the luggage isn’t all loaded yet, please be patient. Hope you’re not mad at KLM…it isn’t our fault.”
We continue watching the luggage loading process. Eventually it ends. The cabin attendant comes on the air and says “We know the late departure affects those of you with connecting flights. KLM is aware of this problem and is sorting things out. Have faith.” Well, she didn’t say have faith, but she implied it. “Hope you’re not mad at KLM, it’s not our fault.”
Then the captain is back on the air. “Our delays loading luggage means that we have missed our departure window set by air traffic control. The next window is in 15 minutes, we are hoping to get into that window, and in fact are trying to get an earlier take off time.” Each announcement ends with “please don’t be mad at KLM”. Since our expectation had been at least another hour to wait, 15 minutes didn’t seem long.
So the 70 minute flight is 60 minutes late before we ever get off the ground, and with such a short flight, it is probably impossible to make up time. But we’re fine. The plane’s destination is the end of our day’s air transportation, so no worries.
Suddenly we are moving. And taking off and Glasgow is beneath us and we are on the way to Amsterdam and the next stage of our trip. We are feeling very sorry for the passengers who have missed international connections, mostly to North America. “KLM is working hard to get you on other flights”. And we are feeling sorry too for those passengers who will be running to make their connections when we’re finally able land in Amsterdam. And we’re feeling smug, because all we have to do is get off the plane and head to our hotel.
Smug never pays off. Never indulge in smug. Never challenge smug. And even saying that I have to laugh at myself and say you privileged old biddy.
So we clear immigration. Long line up. One non-EU booth open, so a long line up to handle hundreds of passengers. But we’re through. Walk 15 kilometres, well ok, not 15 kilometres, but quite a distance, to the baggage claim area, our suitcase is already going around and around. Our companions’ suitcases are already going round and round. Our backpack, checked as a last minute decision, no where to be seen.
Definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Watch the carousel go around and around with the same six pieces of luggage on it. The information screen says all luggage has been unloaded. Ken goes to KLM. They confirm, yes the plane is completely unloaded. Watch the luggage go around and around for several more minutes with no change in the results. Go back to KLM. Confirm that the backpack is lost.
Ken gives them contact info and we head off to Haarlem. We discover the bus system, which is amazing and gets us to Haarlem in no time for next to nothing. And we get to the hotel, already disgruntled because the missing suitcase is Ken’s Open Championship backpack. We haven’t yet remembered that we moved most of my travel wardrobe into it when we were packing. That anger is yet to come. Ken’s brother had given him Dad’s medals and they filled a significant amount of space in the suitcase, so my clothes, which were on top of the shared suitcase went into the backpack, now missing.
But all faded into insignificance when we got into the hotel. Because in spite of having written confirmation of their reservation, our friends’ booking agency, which will remain unnamed except to say they don’t book things well, cancelled their reservation. So while we all have rooms for tonight, and our reservation for the balance of our stay is fine, our friends don’t have a bed for the subsequent days of our stay in Haarlem. Staff at the hotel desk, well the woman with the long suicide blonde (“dyed by her own hand”) hair down to her waist and impossible eye lashes, was incredibly unhelpful, even when we said “we know this isn’t your fault, we are not blaming you, but can you direct us to a near by hotel where we might get a room.” And she flapped those incredibly false eyelashes and said “I don’t make reservations.” And washed her hands of us. OMG.
I have no right to complain. We have been travelling for years and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. Reservation or luggage issues. And I got to go shopping. After all I had no clothes. Well, I have a few tops but no bottoms and I’d have looked pretty silly walking around half-dressed. (Singing the Lighthouse song in my head “half undressed just soaking up the su…un.”)
And to close the story line our friends found a hotel just around the corner from us. And KLM got hold of us yesterday to say that our backpack had shown up and four days later it is back in our possession. We suspect that the luggage loading issues in Glasgow resulted in it just not getting onto the plane with us. And by the way, false eye-lashed person aside, the other hotel staff are very friendly and helpful. And the hotel was just fine (not Louise Penny fine, nor wife’s response to spouse’s question fine), but fine.