Though the point of my column is to help you with your relationship questions, sometimes things happen in my life that are relatable, and I’d like to share. To know me is to know I am outgoing, personable, friendly and an extrovert (with a capital E). I talk to people wherever I go about anything and everything.
Recently, while waiting for my flight which had been delayed, I started chatting with someone nearby. He was with a friend, we had some laughs, discussed parenting and politics and why we were headed in the same direction. Later, I looked for them on the flight and at baggage claim, but didn’t see them again.
Six hours after landing, I received a phone call from the airport that somehow I had the wrong bag, because mine was in the hands of the airport agent. I wasn’t with the bag at the time so couldn’t confirm. We worked out how we would do a bag exchange, and my evening continued.
When I got back and looked at the bag I had mistakenly taken, I realized it belonged to that same gentleman I had spoken to in the airport! His number was on his tag, so I called him. Without introducing myself I said, “Isn’t it the oddest coincidence that of all the (500?) people on that airplane, it’s you and I who accidentally took each other’s bags?” He was shocked and started laughing. The point of my story is that thanks to basic kindness and friendliness, mixing up luggage became a laughable connection rather than a stressful disaster.
And that making connections a.