I can practically hear every married or taken man on Facebook saying "Amen". I think that this was instilled by my Mother who took enough and no more. She did take my Father so I have assumed that he was considered essential if but to pay the bills. I do take Ariel washing capsules in my liquid-and-gels handbag so as long as I can to a Laundrette in a hotel or outside I can keep running. I used to fly for a living but as I had a hold case, I was a bit lazy. Euro (as was) girls with night stops don't. On one occasion I was doing a B-2-B aboard the 767 when we used to serve Manchester. They managed to loose all the crew's baggage. We arrived at the hotel and first had to go the nearest shops (Walmart was one - you should have seen their faces when we all trooped in clad in full British Airways drag!). I had always kept spare knickers and make-up in my handbag so I could face the world and my hair is low mantenance. However not all did. It taught me that baggage carousels are the wheel of fortune - maybe you will get your case, or there again, maybe you won't. As recently as yesterday Vueling had managed to ship someone's suitcase destined for DSS (Cameroon) to NTE and there it sat folornly to the indifference of everyone. I have also heard of instances of people taking cases that were not even theirs and going off. One silly tart of a friend of mine was "carrying" on with a man who was an official in the DDR as was. She flew from London one Friday nitght with PanAm and landed in Templhof I think that it was still back then - she grabbed her bag ran off into the Ubahn to get to Checkpoint Charlie and into the East where he was waiting for her the other side of the wall in a state limousine. Anyhow she emerged on the Sunday after a weekend where the tramp had barely left the bedroom. She went to her case to get a change and the key would not work. This was simply explained that she had taken the wrong suitcase. Her's was still at Templehoff. Anyhow she got back out of the East as she had made up some story to her husband and of course PanAm had rung her in London and she went home to face a divorce as she really could not explain satisfactorily why she had been in Berlin.

There is then the little question of stuff stolen from cases and cases that are damaged. It is a no-brainer to me - apart from watching my life flash in slow motion before my eyes as I wait for the bages to be delivered as and when it suits some Alicantino baggage handler.