This past weekend I attended Blog World in LA. I had an amazing time—learned a ton, met a lot of great people, and got super inspired to pump up my blog. But it had a very scary beginning.
Thursday night I flew to LA on Southwest with a reward ticket, stopping in El Paso. The flights were totally fine and normal. I got some good knitting done, did some reading, and took a little nap. On the second flight, once we landed, we taxied for what felt like seven hours (LAX is huge). When we finally got to the gate, I was so stoked to finally be at Blog World and simultaneously so anxious about it that I maybe didn’t pay as much attention to my stuff as I normally do.
Rolling my suitcase behind me (and limping slightly from a yoga injury), I headed outside to the curb to find the Super Shuttle. Since I couldn’t find it and was starting to feel annoyed, I started looking for my phone to call someone to help me find it. My phone wasn’t there. You know that second when your heart feels like it has stopped? Well, I have that a lot with my phone because my purse is so big, so I’ve kind of learned to ignore it. But this time it didn’t go away because my phone wasn’t there. I went inside and pulled everything out, and it still was not there. Now not only had my heart stopped but I was freaking my freak. A million thoughts start racing through my brain. I was in a huge airport with no visible employees. Who to contact? The gate where my plane was sitting was really far away and inside security, and even if I wanted to go back there I didn’t have a boarding pass. Where the heck is the escalator to get upstairs where there are ticketing agents? Southwest usually turns around planes very quickly—what if they’ve already left?? What if I’ve lost my phone before Blog World? I won’t have email or a way to call my husband or a map or…….
These thoughts, and others, swirled through my head as I rushed around searching for someone to help me. Well, “rushed” is a strong word. More like I limped pitifully. After going around some blind corners and random construction, hope beckoned ahead in the form of a man wearing some sort of airport uniform and moving suitcases around. He directed me to the Southwest baggage office (which I would never have found by myself), where I explained my situation while trying not to cry. The baggage agent immediately calls up to the gate and starts to say, “I have a passenger who left her iPhone on the plane.” They interrupted her, she nodded her head as she listened, and smiled at me as she hung up. “They’ve got it,” she says. Hallelujah!!
I will be very, very careful with my phone in the future. This has never happened before! It was definitely the scariest ten minutes I’ve had in a long time. So thank you Southwest! I can’t imagine having to go through Blog World, or any trip, or (let’s be honest) a single day without my phone, and thanks to them I don’t have to.
Readers, have you ever left something important on a plane?
So glad they found your iPhone! How would I have texted/met up with you otherwise. 🙂 Hurray Southwest – and it was great hanging out with the Road Warriorette over the weekend!
Two things left on Delta one returned.
1) I left a case of CDs in seat 1a back when we had portable walk men. Called later that night and was mailed to my house.
2) Left a business folder & very nice pen in seat back of 2D. Called immediately once I got to the hotel but it was “not found”. Checked lost and found for weeks but item was never located. Amex reimbursed me for the pen because I had business travel coverage for lost items.
CD Player, sunglasses, leather coat, umbrellas. I have never received anything back that I left on an airplane.
Then again, there was no identity information on those items and nothing particularly valuable that couldn’t easily be replaced.
I left a jacket once, but my husband recently left his kindle in the seat pocket. The kindle never turned up, despite my best former-airline-employee investigative skills and a really nice lady in the US Airways baggage office at EWR.
I lost an ipod and my mother lost and never found the diamond on her wedding ring
I left a cell phone in a cab after ride from ORD. But like you, my story had a happy ending and the driver happened to look in the back seat, saw my phone, and drove back to the hotel to drop it off. I was still standing in line at registration and hadn’t even noticed that it was missing.
Lesson learned, I always check to see if I have my phone. Of course it’s highly likely now that I’ll never loose my phone, but will instead forget my laptop.
Glad you found your phone though, it would have been a little challenging to meet up and have so much fun hanging out with you at Blog World!
I unknowingly left my driver’s license on a Southwest flight. I thought I had shoved it back in my wallet after getting on the flight but it must have fallen out of my pocket. I discovered this fact when I found a FedEx envelope on my front step with the license inside and a note. I have never felt so stupid.
When I was a kid, I left candy in the seat pocket because I knew we would be on the same plane for the next leg. I didn’t realize they swept the plane during such intervals. When you’re a kid, candy is important! Since that sad day, I have never put anything besides trash in seat pockets. And I ditch the trash when the flight attendants come by.
Dude, I had a similar vomit-inducing experience at the event itself when I lost my laptop power cord! Asked concierge at The Westin (where I was staying) if they could help me find a store to replace it quickly, and they went in the back room and found one that I could have! (Apparently, it was left in a guest room several months ago and never claimed.) Half luck, I know, but talk about customer service! There really are some awesome companies out there!
Anyway, so glad you got your phone back and were able to enjoy the show! Hope to see you at future BWE events!
I haven’t lost anything, but I found two things on my last flight. The woman sitting across the aisle and one row in front of me obviously lost something, and she and her husband were searching their seat, floor, seat pocket, etc. I heard her say, “It’s red…oh, I think its just gone forever.”
They started up the aisle and I followed. As I passed one row in front of their seat, I glanced back and saw something red. It was her small notebook. I called up to them and they were so happy!
As I walked further forward, another passenger behind me passed up another lost item from that same couple, HIS cell phone! I guess they were really flummoxed. By now, the couple was well ahead of me, since it was a 2-aisle jet and lots of people had moved between us. It took me well out into the terminal to catch them and return the phone. I wish I’d snapped a photo of their faces, such relief and disbelief!
I felt like a good samaritan for the rest of the day 🙂