They are throwing guitars out there!

In 1989, while waiting to pull down a real job, I had time on my hands and went to the US Senior Open golf tournament. I really reveled attending the practice round, getting to shake Arnie's hand and see Gary Player sharply put a loud drunk guy in his place. While waiting on a shot, Chi Chi Rodriquez came over to the ropes and told the following story.

He said when he went to the airport in Miami they were so nice to him and asked him where he wanted to bags to go. He said, "This big bag here, send it to San Francisco, and this little bag send to New York and my golf clubs make sure they get to Pittsburgh." the porter looked confused and said, "My Rodriguez, we can't do that?" - to which Chi Chi replied - "Why not, that's what you did for me last week."

It was late fall in 1995, and I had just landed at the T.F. Green airport in Providence Rhode Island. I had been working as the lead for a project with our local account and this was just another in a long series of trips to meet with the team and customer. Waiting at the baggage carousel, I experienced one of life's universal truths - it's never a good thing to be one of the last to get your luggage. As they say, bad news never ages well and hence there came my hanging bag, alone, ripped open and looking very much as if it had been dragged behind the plane on the rain soaked runway. I kid you not, I swear there were tire tracks across a portion of the canvas (see prior Friday's note related to canvas bags) hanging bag. Fortunately for me, the airlines accepted responsibility for the bag and what contents were obviously ruined. It also helped that in Providence was the Tourister manufactures outlet.

I was reminded of these events through the recent youtube explosion of another fine example of baggage handling skills. The following link makes me wish I had had a guitar with me in Providence as well as the ability to write and sing a song.

Enjoy - here's hopping your luggage is always first on the carousel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo