100 Little Pleasures of (Touring) Life: #29

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On a plane somewhere between Nashville, TN & Chicago, IL:  There are a lot of negative things you can say about airlines these days. They charge for every little thing, their planes are small and sometimes oversold and their customer service is seemingly non-existent.

But every once in a while, there is someone flying the friendly skies who goes out of his or her way to prove these negative nellies wrong.

A few months ago, after seeing some of my fellow traveling partners don a pair of super snazzy headphones, I bit the bullet and bought some for myself. These are no regular headphones, mind you. These are Bose QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones, which are not only great for listening to iTunes on an airplane, but also – with the flip of a switch – able to cut out all ambient noise in the surrounding space.

They’re not something I needed, per se, but as a friend working at the Apple Store reasoned, they would be so useful in my travels. They’re not cheap – especially when you think about the fact that they’re “just headphones” – but I justified to myself that if I bring them with me on every trip, they would soon pay for themselves.

I tried them out on my first flight shortly after the purchase and the result was… awesome. With the noise-cancelling switch turned on, the plane engine noise was gentle. I actually didn’t even listen to music on the first trip, since I was enjoying listening to… quiet.

During a race I went to in Millville, NJ, I even wore them while sitting in the pit and (along with an extra set of earplugs), it was actually bearable. (Of course, people wondered which car I was listening to, considering those around me with headphones were actually hearing the drivers speak.)  

A major drawback, however, is that they are big. My backpack is already stuffed to the brim with other electronic equipment and paperwork, so I didn’t want to add another bulky item to the mix. Instead, I started bringing along my new favorite carry-on: a Trader Joe’s bag, which I could throw my headphones into, in addition to bottled water, magazines and any other snicky snacks I picked up along the way.

As a seasoned traveler, I’m used to having a bunch of random things and knowing exactly where everything is tucked away. But when I get something new, it takes a bit of time until I get used to where it lives on the road. On my last trip to Los Angeles, my Trader Joe’s bag didn’t fit under the seat next to my computer backpack, so I decided to put it in the overhead compartment (a gesture I hardly ever do). I was enjoying listening to the silence with my still-new headphones when we were instructed to “turn off all approved electronics.” Since the official announcement had been made, I wasn’t able to return the new headphones to it’s traveling home. Instead, I put them in the seatback pocket in front of me and would transfer them to the bag before I departed the plane.


Once the wheels touched down at DFW, my phone was on and I was reading and answering the emails and texts that had arrived in my inbox during the first leg of the trip. We exited the plane to find out that the Skylink was down, so we’d have to walk from the A terminal to the C terminal in order to catch our next flight.

The band and I walked as quickly as we could, arriving at the next gate as they were boarding the last group. We settled in, listened to the safety announcements and waited until the 10,000 feet ding sounded. I reached into my Trader Joe’s bag, to pull out my ambient sound silencers. I couldn’t seem to feel them, so I hoisted the bag on my lap and visually dug through it. They weren’t there. So, I grabbed my backpack, unzipping all of the pockets and moving cords and papers around. My worst fear (as far as carrying things on planes go) was confirmed:

I left the headphones on board the other plane.

I talked to the flight attendant who told me not to worry – the gate agent in LA could call the gate agent in Dallas and someone probably turned them in already. When we landed at LAX, the gate agent, looking uninterested in my travel faux pas, told me I needed to talk to customer service a few gates away. But when I arrived at said customer service area, there was a line of people waiting to talk to the agents about real travel problems, not pitiful tales of forgetting-something-on-board.

I spent the ride from the airport to the hotel on hold with American Airlines, waiting to talk to a real person to find out what, if anything, I could do. Finally, an understanding agent gave me the direct number for the lost and found at the Dallas Ft. Worth Airport. Thanks to my handy dandy iPhone travel apps, I knew the plane was going to be headed to Seattle in just a bit, so there would still be time to check the plane before it took off.

But alas, my faith in the helpful travel industry was dashed when a recorded voice answered my call:
“Please leave your name, number and the description of the item you misplaced. If we find it, we will call you back. If we don’t, we won’t call you back.”
In other words, “we’ll try…. ish.”

I did what I was instructed to do, but knew I could kiss those ear puppies goodbye. I figured this was my lesson not to spend an exorbitant amount of money on something I don’t really need.

In one last ditch effort, I emailed the travel agent with the subject line, “I’m An Idiot.”  I explained the (lame) situation, citing the description of the article lost and expressing my hope that maybe one of her AA friends could just go to seat 18C and look for herself.  We both knew it was highly unlikely, but she would ask.

About an hour later, the travel agent called me.

They found them.

Yes, somehow the word got from my travel agent to her contact at AA to the Compliance Coordinator in Seattle and she was able to retrieve my headphones AND ship them back to me at the office. Once I received an email with the tracking information, I asked for an address of where I might be able to send a thank you gift.  The gracious woman wrote back, “Not necessary and my pleasure!  It is always exciting to re-unite passengers and belongings, makes for a happy ending!” Not only did she retrieve my headphones for me, but now she’s turning down a chance for a thank you gift? Who is this woman anyway!?

Which leads me to my next 100 Little Pleasures of (Touring) Life:

#29: Airline agents who go the extra step.

Of course, she – along with the AA rep and the travel agent – are all getting thank you gifts whether they like it or not. And I think they will actually like them since they’re Thistle Farms Travel Survival Kits. Perfect for these travel-driven folks.

A few days later, I stopped by the office to pick up the promised fed ex package.

Elated, I took them out and put them on again, reuniting with the ones I thought had gotten away. In my silent bliss, I gingerly ran my fingers over the case, dreaming of all the places we would travel to together. Then I noticed something a little strange.

My headphones retrieved!
(sans cord)
The cord was missing.

There is actually a Velcro pocket on the inside of the headphone case that holds the cord (with microphone – which makes for a great way to talk on the phone as an added bonus), which was completely gone. I checked the box again to be sure it hadn’t slipped away somehow, but it was definitely missing.

Fellow band member's
case showing cord pouch.
Luckily, I could order another pair of headphones on line, so it wasn’t the end of the world, but I’m still wondering why someone would take out the cord & pouch only, instead of the headphones themselves.

But in the end, this agent has reminded me that even though there are a lot of problems with airlines (and the ones who work for them) these days, it's important to make sure the ones that DO go out of their way to help you out get a special shout out.