Dodged a bullet !

Dateline Rome...

Flew all night from PDX to AMS... uneventful flight, consumed movies and food, got no sleep. Arrived early and made the connecting flight to Rome (FCO).  Got our luggage, texted our apartment host, started scouting out a cab for a ride to the Piazza Bologna area of Rome, which is a 70Euro trip (ugh!).  Found a cab in the arrivals section of the airport and we headed across the street towards the cab and then.........

Shit, where is my backpack?

Yes, my black backpack, which contained my iPhone, iPad, CPAP machine, camera, sunglasses, drugs... you know, all of the important things that you do not trust baggage handlers to carry.

I realized that I had left it on a bench inside the airport luggage area, behind the doors that say “DO NOT ENTER”, where the uniformed police stand with Uzi’s.  Well... I went through those doors, to a second set of doors marked “DO NOT ENTER”... you know the ones with a big red circle ⭕️.  As those doors opened, I motioned to the policeman that I needed to enter and get my bag.  I pointed to the bag on the bench, 30 feet from me.  He shook his head and in a wordless exchange, pointed out and up.  He indicated to me that I would need to go upstairs, re-enter the airport, go through security and then come back down to baggage claim.  Off I ran, with my heart in my throat...

I re-entered the airport, but I was immediately lost.  I could not figure out how to get back downstairs.  I saw an AlItalia airline employee at a “HELP” kiosk.  He spoke English (whew!).  He said, “Follow me”.  He walked over to security, went through the metal detectors ahead of me, and accompanied me to the baggage claim area, where my lonely backpack sat on the bench exactly where I had left it.  I grabbed my pack like a lost child at the mall (3 year old Jeff at the Beaverton Mall 1984), thanked my helper profusely (I coulda kissed the guy!) and headed back out the exit to my cab.

Someone once described the act of dying as... “like jumping into a cold mountain lake on a hot summer day” - total shock followed by overwhelming relief.  That’s how I felt.......