Being a white hatter and interacting five hours per week with strangers, you are bound to come up with a story line since we are all different and have our own unique set of issues to deal with.
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A middle aged, grizzly man with short spiky gray hair zeroed in on me and came over in a daze working his way through a mass mob of Westjet travelers trying to get their luggage from many flights, that by design deposited all luggage on the same carousel # 3. Absolute turmoil and madness is the setting. The closer he got, the more his mouth opened in readiness to say something. I was not expecting what he had to say.
“I have lost my son. He has down syndrome.”
How could he possibly be his father as he looked to be a bit old for this, but who am I to judge? How could any father lose his son, even with down syndrome? I guess it does not take long in this crowd. He continued his story:
“I turned around once to see that he was following me after I picked up my luggage from over there. Then I went out the door to get a taxi thinking he was behind me still but when I turned around, he was gone! I looked in both directions inside and outside and could not find him anywhere!”
He did not show that much worry, more a bother, probably having previous incidents, I am sure for whom God gave him to take care of.
“He has a cane and is wearing a dark jacket.”
My turn for question as how far could he go if he needed a cane to walk. I asked, “Which door? "
“This one over there."
“I can help you look. Maybe we can go in separate directions and extend our search. He could not have gone far. But first, let's go over to the Westjet baggage assistant agent and see if we can page him.”
He liked that idea as he had no other. So he went over to the agent, explained his situation, then the agent got on the speaker phone paging junior to please come back to the Westjet desk at carousel 3 where his father was waiting.
Once this was done, I asked the father whether he thought he would hear and respond to the announcement.
“Not likely.”
Still no sense of urgency on his part but then getting excited is not going to help. With our heads spinning looking around the terminal, we started walking to his door of departure. Outside the door was a big train of luggage carts getting pushed through to conveniently place for future traveler needs, but in the meantime it was blocking others from leaving the building. People were jammed by the door trying to work their way through but I could see over top of what was little people. Behind this barricade by the curb was a lovely little teeny bopper missus with glasses, sitting on top of suitcases, resting her chin and looking a bit bored silly, but giving us her undivided attention. She had to be the daughter, as she had now taken a keen interest in our talk and who must have been given specific instructions to stay put until the "stars were aligned." She brought back memories of my own.
We looked over the crowd outside in every direction for the son but no sign. Good grief! I thought. I could not leave the father until his son had been found despite others wanting my attention.
I suggested, “ Why not you go north and I south and then we can report back. Do you have a cell number I can phone if I find him?”
The father lighted up with an idea.
“Hey! He has a cell phone! I can give him a call!”
Why did he not think of this before? How could he forget he had a cell phone? The father pulled out his cell and started looking through his contacts, fumbling through phone numbers, but could not locate his son's number. He must not phone him much. Getting frustrated, the teeny bopper never said a word but took matters into her own hands, whipped out her phone and gave him a call instead! I think the father had too much on his mind and was not himself, too flustered to get to first base with this. The issue at hand was probably a lot simpler than what he thought it had become, and his daughter was there to get him through this step. I can relate as I often fall victim of overthinking a situation. The daughter let the phone ring a few times but no answer. I got the feeling that the son might be challenged to answer the phone.
So we were back to having to search but with so many people around, I needed to make the airport aware of what was happening and to expand the help needed for this. So I took out my own airport cell to phone security and when I was on hold to speak to the agent, the father's phone started to ring. Based on what he was saying, his son had been found by someone at the airport and so I let security go to hear the latest.
“That was a customer care ambassador who is with my son. He apparently noticed his phone ringing and so gave his cell to her to give me a call and they are going to meet me back at carousel # 3!”
He looked quite relieved while his daughter was just going with the moment, too young to worry, another chapter in her life with her family and the challenges they have. The ambassador had spotted another white hatter with a golf cart and so sure enough, along came that cart with the ambassador and her catch... the boy with a dark jacket, cane... and cell phone in his hand! My job was done!
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Same location, same crowd, but a lady came over and said there was this back pack beside her chair that does not seem to belong to anyone and has been there for a long time. She did the right thing to let me know about it. Maybe this belonged to that boy who was lost? Not likely as the family was now gone.
Now a few years ago, the process for what to do would have been a lot simpler. You just pick up the pack, maybe announce to the crowd to see if it belonged to anyone. If no response, then you take it to the Information Desk and have them announce that the pack has been found and would the owner please come by to retrieve. But not in this day and age, as someone could have planted an explosive device in the pack! This, unfortunately, has become a popular idea for those who want to kill, injure, and spread thoughts of terror and fear. You are not to touch it, as this could trigger the bomb to go off.
I called Airport Security, and they seem bothered with this routine, but asked me a few questions such as location, description, and length of time it had been abandoned, and then they finally said they would send a security guard over once they concluded my finding was legit. I waited around and observed the pack for a few minutes while answering other miscellaneous questions from the crowd.
Now when it comes to security guards, there is the kind that looks more like a bouncer from a bar, big and fearless, tough looking, then there is her. She came along with her black glasses on that were too big for her face and halfway down her petite nose, just a little thing, an introvert, and her tan "cop" style shirt was crumpled since she did not have enough body to fill it out properly. Her shirt sleeves which were way too long were rolled up almost to her elbows. She was all skin and bones and so you could not read the sign SECURITY on her shirt as the letters were too big! Her only weapon that she had for crowd control was her cell. She also spoke so quietly, and so you definitely did not feel the least bit intimidated by her presence!
I showed her the pack, but she kept her distance and just observed it and the surrounding crowd. She then took a few more steps back to allow other travelers to move along, but always kept an eye on the pack. I would say she was far enough away if the pack went kaboom! After 10 minutes or so, two more security guards came by equally meek and non offensive, but with an electronic sniffer to see if they could detect any chemicals in the bag (none). They never touched the bag during this process. After reporting their results to their boss by cell phone, they received permission to pick up the pack and take to the Information Desk which manages the airport's lost and found.
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At Air Canada Departures, I come across a mother, daughter and her two young sons, one old enough to have his own seat on the plane but the other still a baby. They also had with them three huge suitcases overweight that were rejected by Air Canada, one carry on suitcase, a backpack, a large purse, a two seat stroller, and a car seat! You just have to think of the worst situation to know what is going on here as there was no father around! They were in a daze at the "roadblock" and stalled, not going anywhere, with other travelers working their way around them in front of the airline counters.
The daughter was doing some text messaging while the mother decided to get direction from Air Canada as to what was the maximum allowable as to weight per bag. The daughter explained that they were separating from her husband/ father of the boys and her mother flew into Calgary to pick them up to move back to her place. The daughter was letting her mother run the show, thinking she should just babysit her kids and keep them quiet, while they tried to check in their stuff. She was not in the best of emotional state either to figure things out on her own. Fortunately they remembered packing two duffel bags that could be loaded to get up to legally having three carry ons, one for each traveler with a seat. They really could not afford extra charges for being overweight (no money, honey), which was $100 per bag, and so needed to do a mad rework of their stuff and fill up the two duffel bags.
Air Canada had some weigh scales to use and I coached them a bit to keep all liquids in the bigger suitcases. Opening up each case showed the contents to be a complete disaster, no organization whatsoever. Anything they thought should be taken was grabbed and thrown into each case in the haste of their departure, toiletries with toys with clothes. No clothes were folded, only scrunched up. The boys showed signs of getting restless and so the daughter gave them potato chips to crunch on for a few minutes so that they did not start screaming, which is how they get what they want, if you know what I mean. Some kids are like that, often the result of not getting proper parenting. Lets face it, this family was in a mess.
I helped move their luggage off and on the weigh scale and cart for what was adjusted, even though we were are given specific instructions by our organization not to do this in case we take out our back, as we might be inclined to give them a lawsuit in this situation. So our hands are tied for doing most anything other than being pleasant and answering questions. But I never had any problem with my back and some rules were made to be broken at my risk; besides, they could not lift the suitcases that well themselves. Fortunately the re-organization worked and they were able to cram enough clothing in overstuffed duffel bags to meet Air Canada's luggage threshold requirements.
Any family with little ones that are quite dependent still is a lot of work when traveling in order to meet all safety requirements and to make kids comfortable, unless they are naturally at peace with the world. You need to know your kids. Take away the father and add other family social disorder only makes it worse. When the children are old enough to lug their own carry on suitcase with wheels, this is a much easier situation (voice of experience). Families at peace still need to consider being more patient and letting their kids grow a little before doing some heavy traveling.
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When welcoming international travelers with their luggage in hand from customs, they often look to see who is there for them in the arrivals area. A confident young lady was met with family who chose to bring their dog, and after a brief chat she came over to greet me with a smile to reciprocate my own. She said that she left her own dog in a kennel back in the luggage compartment! Huh? How could she forget her own dog in customs? Her family with their dog reminded her that she forgot an important member of the family! She did not even claim the dog when filling out her customs form electronically and she did not seem to be the least bit concerned about her dog! She could only provide me with the dog's luggage ticket.
White hatters are naturally not allowed to bring out anything from the luggage carousels behind customs because this represents a risk for customs officials. But helping a traveler in this situation is where we can provide a valuable service. I used my access card to go into the back and I approached a Westjet luggage agent waiting for me behind the counter. He too became flabbergasted as sure enough when we walked over to the over sized baggage area, we saw a dog in a kennel all by his lonesome, wagging his tale at us when we approached, and the sticker on the kennel matched the ticket. It would be a half hour later before a customs official came out into International Arrivals to interview the young lady to basically complete the customs work that she failed to do previously. Then another period of time elapsed before the official came back with her dog, now that the process had been completed.
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Two buddies with their tans and golf clothing came out to International Arrivals carrying on with their own conversation, then they became a bit puzzled and surprised to hear my greeting which brought them back to reality. They had a rather goofy expression on their face.
“Hey, where do we go to pick up our luggage?”
“You walked right passed the carousel area where the luggage was located”
So they apologized and started to walk back to the door they came out of.
“Hold it, sorry, but you cannot go back there as this area is secured!”
My impression of them matched their expression, silly goofs, and I could tell they were rather embarrassed. They were so immersed in their own conversation they did not look as to where they were going! They even had to weave their way through the crowd and carousels to go up a ramp to hand a customs official their claim form, then exit through the secured doors behind them. There has been the odd person come through the arrival doors with all but one piece of luggage, but these buddies left all their checked in luggage and golf bags behind! I never have seen this happen before!
Same procedure in that I grabbed their luggage tickets once found that also showed their name and flight information. I went back behind security to the Westjet luggage counter, who found all the luggage missing and brought this out to the golfers a half hour later, as they had other travelers they needed to deal with in the meantime.
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I had another unbelievable incident at a very busy time of the year over Christmas. Greeting travelers arriving from Air Canada domestic flights, then giving direction for questions asked, I noticed a three year old boy playing in the middle of the road way used by the airport shuttles to transport travelers between concourses due to distance. Not likely that he would get run over, as the shuttle drivers are very careful when at a concourse, but he represented a road block for the shuttles and an inconvenience. The boy was also making a scene for other travelers as noticed due to his location and immature antics. He started to cry once, but held back when others started to give him some attention, including me.
I first of all got him out of the travel lane to where it was safer. I asked what his name was and he did not want to answer. I asked him where his parents were and he said they were "hiding," not the other way around. He was definitely lost and so I asked him to take my hand and we walked a hundred yards to where the Air Canada counter was located. I did not know if I was walking him away from where his parents were, or towards them. He was extremely gullible and trusted everyone and so any stranger could have grabbed his hand and escorted him anywhere! He seemed to be a good lad, but I did not want to raise a second son, too old for that!
When we arrived at the Air Canada counter, I nonchalantly told three young Air Canada agents that junior needed his parents. As they were behind the counter, they could not see him and so I pointed down to where he was by my feet! They all leaned over the counter to see, then they got excited, ran around the counter and were all over him trying to get information as to who he was. I knew he was in good hands and as other travelers were needing my attention, I left the boy with them. But I followed up later as to whether he was back with his parents. Air Canada eventually got his name and paged his parents on the intercom, and they showed up a few minutes later to take junior back to the gate where he was to load a plane, at the other end of the concourse.
I never got to see the expression on the parent's faces and how thankful they were. Knowing some young families in a busy airport, the parents would never let their child out of sight, ever. If they were to disappear, they would be screaming and running along the concourse trying to find their loved one, but I never saw any of this. The boy is also fortunate not to have taken an escalator down beyond the shuttle lane as he would have been on the arrivals floor pre-security with his parents by the gate waiting to load! He would have been in big trouble in this situation. The parents would have missed their flight once they realized that someone was missing! I am sure his parents were thankful, but I will never know to what degree.
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When it comes to giving rides to the elderly and unfortunate, those who can no longer walk much, this problem is only getting worse each year. Snow birds who are used to flying south for a few months in the winter, whether that be Mexico or Phoenix have been doing this in retirement now for 20 years and each year they become more handicapped with age and so it will be tougher to travel than the year before. They still want to go regardless of physical condition and they only have to put up with challenges at the airport before they get to their destination.
This is becoming quite the problem for airports at both ends of the flight, and so in Mexico and Phoenix as well as Calgary. Airports are not designed to deal with a lot of physically impaired as there is not enough manpower and wheel chairs available. People get upset and negative when an airline cannot provide a wheel chair when requested, specially those airlines who have only limited business operations in Calgary. It is easier for Westjet, due to their significant presence, as they can move their chairs and authorized personnel to those flights having lots of demand for assistance. With no wheel chair, certain people are challenged walking to customs, then they still have to work their way through the lineup, walk to get their luggage, and walk out of the secured area. Then they may need to walk to get to their car.
Recognizing a need to provide a better service for the handicapped, golf carts are driven by white hatters, but the airport corridors are not really designed to accommodate and so was an afterthought. To drive a cart through lines of crowd you have to be so careful not to bump people, or run over their feet. Golf carts that have stopped for loading or unloading can cause an inconvenience as travelers have to walk around them. Nonetheless, we have a system in place but it is dangerous, as all it would take is for someone to get hurt to have the airport dealing with a lawsuit. Airport security does not really want white hatters to be offering this service due to the liability risk and often this is discussed in management meetings. We only are to travel at a slow speed and despite this, I have had to slam on my brakes more than once because some little kid chose to quickly drift sideways to be in front of my cart when not looking. Some white hatters will simply not drive behind customs as it is too crowded and dangerous.
I always remember when I offered a ride at a gate to an elderly snow bird who could hardly walk and the airline could not provide a wheel chair, as there were none available. Upon arrival at customs in a mob of travelers, a sack of urine he was carrying in his trousers fell to the floor when he got off the cart, with his catheter still hooked up to his bladder complete with long clear tube. Now, how embarrassing was that? How could he possibly have been traveling in that condition? He apparently needed to get the catheter at a US hospital, then board the plane for his journey home to get fixed! Fortunately we found him a wheel chair to take him the rest of the way once he had picked up what was connected to him. Why do I think he will be on that plane again the next winter season?
I have no intention of flying still if I become physically handicapped, although I may think differently, perhaps when I am older but for now, I do not want to cause a problem for airport personnel.
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People ask me why I am a White Hatter. Well, maybe this will help. I drove my cart to the gate and noticed a young mother carrying her little daughter, who chose not to walk since their flight from Mexico was over five hours in the air and it was getting late. The mother was waddling along with her load, with daughter pretending to be asleep and with her arms draped around her mother's neck. Father was carrying all the rest of the stuff and his arms were loaded down. This was a loving family that could use my help. I motioned the family to come to my cart by patting the seat next to me. The mother immediately smiled and gladly came over with a huge sigh of relief, then daughter with her big brown Spanish eyes woke up and noticed me.
Mother placed her right beside me on the cart and she just stared while I said warmly and non-offensively, “Well, hello!” She said nothing, but knew it was safe to be on that seat with this complete stranger because her mother brought her to be with me. Would you give your daughter to a complete stranger? The daughter had no fear maybe because of my costume and was young enough to remain in the world of love. I certainly knew that I only wanted a magic moment with this child. Once the rest of the family and stuff were loaded on the cart, the daughter was still staring me down, then she gave me her teddy...
All travelers are my extended family and I am there to give them a helping hand.