Remembering Las Vegas

About twelve years ago, some friends and I flew down to Los Angeles. One friend in particular convinced us to do a road trip to Las Vegas, partly because it was so close but mainly because he was particularly taken with the idea.

I remember two things keenly about that road trip.

I remember thinking that there was a remarkable amount of plant life (cacti, brush and scrubland) in this so-called desert. Having grown up in Kuwait, I associated the word 'desert' with barren sand dunes.

And I remember cresting the mountains and seeing Las Vegas for the first time, the pyramid of Luxor standing out like, well, like a 350-foot tall pyramid encased in black glass. I thought we had maybe 15 minutes tops before we hit the city limits, but we just drove and drove as that pyramid got bigger and bigger and bigger.

It was my first introduction to the sheer scale and whimsy of the Strip. It seemed wasteful and extravagant and I couldn't fully appreciate it.

The thing about Las Vegas is: to enjoy your time there, you have to spend money, either on the shows or on gambling or on drinking. The thing about me at the time was: I was a student with barely any money, I didn't care for gambling and I didn't drink.

Needless to say, I didn't particularly enjoy my visit. The casinos were full of cigarette smoke, which I detest, and I was somewhat beholden to accompany my friends around. We had dinner at the overrated Planet Hollywood, went on a lackluster ride film at the Luxor, ventured into an adult boutique off the strip (where we were somewhat stunned by the sight of a large prosthetic fist), and partook of the international buffet at Feast Around the World.

The highlight of that trip was the New York, New York coaster. It seemed a somewhat tame affair, given that the start and end of the ride went through the building itself. I woke up early, leaving my friends asleep, and went to try it out. I didn't bother putting in my contacts because how bad could it be, really? It's practically an indoor tram, right?

I tell you, once that coaster got started, I had to hold on to my glasses for dear life. I was thrilled by the speed and the turns, and more than half scared that my glasses would fly off and hit one of the tourists on the Brooklyn Bridge. It probably would have been different had I worn contacts. The reason why I remember it so well, why that ride was one of the most exhilirating I've ever been on, is precisely because I spent the entire ride with a death grip on my temples.

A Sour Taste

Kyenta and I went to Las Vegas recently, where I surprised myself by having quite a good time. On the way back, we hit a few snags, mainly as a result of trying to cram in too many activities into too little time. After we boarded our flight, I thought that our return trip misadventures were at an end.

Not quite.

We got through customs and immigration relatively painlessly and waited anxiously at the baggage carousel, keeping an eye out for our sole piece of checked luggage. As the minutes ticked by, we came to the realization that the suitcase wasn't going to magically appear.

At the customer service desk for US Airways, we spoke to a nice but apologetic man called Sonny. He scanned our baggage receipt barcode and verified that our suitcase had indeed made it onto the plane. He scouted around the carousel area briefly for other left luggage and discovered two that were vaguely similar to our suitcase. His theory was that someone had taken our bag by mistake and forgotten their own. Unfortunately, he couldn't get in touch with either of the owners of those pieces of left luggage. He assured us that they usually found missing bags by the following day and that our suitcase would be delivered to us the next evening.

This highlights one of my biggest complaints about the baggage retrieval process. Every customer with one or more checked bags gets a barcode attached to his ticket that corresponds to the bags that he checked. It seems to me that an additional verification check when a customer leaves the airport, confirming that he does indeed have his own checked bags and not someone else's, would be relatively straightforward and would cut down on the number of mistaken and intentional baggage mismatches.

I filled out a missing baggage form and gave them our contact info for letting us know if and when our suitcase was found and would be delivered. In passing, Sonny also mentioned that our bag might be on a different plane. Hmm. But didn't the system scan verify that our bag had indeed made it onto our flight? Yes, he said, but occasionally the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) removed bags for further security checks and didn't notify the system.

Grr. Doesn't that circumvent the whole point of tracking bags?

Thankfully, Kyenta got a call the next day informing us that our errant luggage had indeed been found and would be dropped off that night. An airport van drove by at around 9:45pm and lo and behold, we had our suitcase back. I took it inside, opened it and discovered the following form placed neatly atop our clothes:

Transportation Security Administration

Notice of Baggage Inspection

To protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law* to inspect all checked baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.

During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.

If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution.

For packing tips and suggestions on how to secure your baggage during your next trip, please visit:

www.tsa.gov

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact the TSA Contact Center:

Phone: 866.289.9673 (toll free)

Email: TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.dov

*Section 110(b) of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, 49 U.S.C. 44901(c)-(e)

The part that infuriates me is the casual absolution of responsibility for any damage incurred: "[...] however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution". In order to facilitate these random security searches and prevent your luggage from being vandalized, you need to leave them unlocked, making your personal belongings less secure.

The easiest way to commit a crime is to legislate it.