If you are new to my blog, you may not know that I work at an airport. A few days ago I was unloading a plane and as I was putting a bag into my luggage cart, I saw a credit card on the ground. I picked it up because I thought mine had fallen out of my pocket but it wasn’t mine, it apparently came from one of the bags I was handling. Me and my colleague tried to see which bag it came out of but we didn’t have much time as the bags had to be sorted and delivered.
I was immediately irritated because I thought, “Why would someone pack a credit card in their suitcase?!” This is just asking for trouble. Most people that work at the airport will do the right thing when presented with this type of issue. I took the credit card to the gate agent working at the gate I was assigned to and he made an announcement that was heard throughout the whole airport so hopefully the credit card will make its way to its owner.
But let’s think about what could have happened:
I could have easily taken that credit card and put it in my pocket and no one would have known. I had internet access in our breakroom, I could have gotten on a computer and ordered tons of stuff before the credit card owner even landed in their final destination. Seriously, if the limit was high enough, I could have spent thousands. Thankfully, I’m not built that way so keeping her card was never an option but it would have been so easy to do. Why make it easy for bad people to do bad things to you?
There is absolutely NO REASON you should pack your credit card in your suitcase. All money, credit cards, passports, etc should be kept on your person at all times. And think about this, if the credit card owner doesn’t get her card, she won’t realize it until after she gets to her hotel or wherever she is staying and is unpacking her bags. She will immediately be panicked and think that someone stole her card, then she will have to scramble to find the credit card 800 customer service number, and have to figure out what to do in order to get her new card. All of this stress could have been avoided had she simply kept her credit card with her.
Here are a couple of other things I have seen lately, please don’t do these either.
I saw this as I was unloading a plane. This bag is a carry-on that had to be put in the belly of the plane. This jacket was tied on the handles of this bag, but that doesn’t always guarantee that the jacket will stay on. This bag actually fell on the ground and the jacket came off. Thankfully I was there and could put the jacket back where it was supposed to be but that doesn’t always happen. Please don’t do this.
The bag below was in my cart and as I was about to put it where it belonged, I noticed this cord sticking out of it. This is a phone charger/computer cord and these aren’t cheap. And most of us need to be connected so if we don’t have our cords it is a real hassle. If you have to carry your cords in your checked bag, please don’t put them on the outside pocket. Get a container and put cords inside your checked bag if need be, but I would recommend having all cords in your carry-on bag or purse/laptop bag.
Is there anything you have seen at an airport that make you think, “What the …?”
