Baggage Claim...

The tension builds... Jetsetting business men and women are out of their seats and ready to pick up their carry on luggage. An  announcement tells them to sit back down and wait until the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign... but they don't listen. 

All throughout the plane, people are reaching for their mobiles and switching them on, desperate to find out if their absence from connectivity for the last five hours has dealt them, their loved ones or their business a harsh blow.

Around me, the cacophony begins, as messages of love, hope and missed voicemail start disseminating through the captive audience.

Captive for only a moment longer...

I switch my phone on. 

Nothing.

No message to set off my ill-chosen message ringtone.

I wait patiently, as if reflecting my life methodology, but nothing happens.

One day, in the distant and slightly believable future, I will emerge from the flying tin can to find that my loving partner has sent me a message a few hours earlier while i was in transit, just to let me know at this very moment, once I arrive at my destination, that I am loved, missed and cared for. 

One day... soon I hope.

For now, I turn to the right and head downstairs to claim my baggage, an arduous task for any traveller, and yet one we must follow through with. 

We all have baggage to claim. Some damaged, some painfully black with accentuated ribbon-work to attract attention, or some uniquely individual. I think I travel fairly light...