Baggage claim

when i was young, i loved spending time in airports. of course, this was all pre-9/11 when you could actually walk your loved one to their gate to say goodbye or meet them there to welcome them home. i have so many memories of standing in the terminal at john wayne (back when it was a teeny tiny nothing of an airport) with my sister and waving frantically as my parents' plane circled the runway on their return from hawaii or san francisco or some other town i didn't get to visit with them.

now, the excitement of the airport experience has completely faded. between the "heightened security," over-worked and underpaid personnel, inexplicable delays and illustrious passenger who insists on questioning if he really needs to take his laptop out of its case and shoes off his feet...let's just say, it takes everything i've got to remain patient and make it to the lounge for a quick cocktail before boarding.

still, there's something about baggage claim that i love. the anxiety builds as i approach, every time so sure that my luggage will be lost, until that moment when i see my little red suitcase lying patiently on the conveyor belt just waiting for me to pick her up. maybe it's the memory of feeling so protected behind my dad as a strange man nearly knocked me over while struggling to get his bags together when i was little. or the notion that wherever i am, home or vacation, i'm somewhere with some new adventure awaiting me. either way, i experience a sense of relief as i stroll out the automatic doors, little red suitcase trailing and i can't help but smile.

you can't buy that kind of security anywhere.