Evening escapade

"Fancy going to Newark this evening?" Seagull asked me yesterday.
"The airport???"
"Yeah well I need to check their lost and found..."

You see, Seagull forgot his laptop on his flight into NY this weekend. My first thought was oh no, he probably lost a ton of pictures, reflecting the main use I have for my laptop. But of course, it's much more serious than that, and involves much replication of work which he has grumblingly set about to do. The thing that really got to me was that this is exactly the kind of thing I would do. Forgetting the laptop on a plane I mean. Not conscientiously re-doing work.

And what's a buddy for if not to bolster one's spirits and indulge in a whinge-session (and drive to Newark) during such moments of crisis? So shortly after that, Seagull and I found ourselves in a painful crawl through the rush hour traffic towards the airport.

The Newark Lost and Found is an interesting place to be. The large room is surrounded by glass cabinets where all the lost items are placed on display. Presumably, passengers are supposed to just point out to their bags in a truly sophisticated process for matching finder to findee. About 50% of the lost luggage consisted of strollers. How do people forget their strollers??!! Presumably they've got a baby with them if they have a stroller - so does that mean they forgot the baby too?! Suspicious, if you ask me.

We, of course, had come to the airport based on no prior knowledge whatsoever (or indeed even an insinuation) that Seagull's laptop had been located and stored in the L&F. So when we finally got to the front of the queue, the gentleman at the counter said: "Did we call you to let you know we have your laptop?"
"Err, no" Seagull said.
"Do you have a confirmation number?"
"Err, no"
"We don't have your laptop. But of course, the plane could have flown somewhere else after the stopover. So basically it could be anywhere. I suggest you just keep calling the airline all the time everyday and hopefully it will turn up sometime, somewhere."

Hmm. Didn't bode well, but far be it from us to notice the glass was half empty.

Instead, we decided it was time to go out for dinner, get a pitcher of sangria and repeatedly toast to finding the laptop sometime soon.

Those of you who know me, you've heard the rest of the story many times before.

We set off on the way back home, and ten minutes into the drive, I announced, "Seagull, I need to pee."
He laughed. "Ok we'll be back soon."
I waited thirty seconds. Anything beyond that doesn't qualify as 'soon' if you ask me. "Seagull I HAVE to pee."
"Yeah okay okay".
And then what does he do? He takes a wrong turn and gets lost. I couldn't believe it was for real. Ridiculous.

"OMG, OMG you don't get it do you? I. HAVE. TO. GO. NOW."

And THEN what does he do? After finally having found the way back? He parks about TWENTY blocks from the bar we were supposed to go to. "You don't mind walking ten minutes do you?". Boy, I thought. This chap doesn't know me at all. The ten longest minutes of my life. Aged 20 years and sprouted 20 grey hairs.

When we finally made it to the bar - with much squirming, worming, squiggling and wiggling - I turned to him with my hands on my hips. "I think you owe me a drink, Mister", I clarified. But what are buddies for if not to buy each other drinks in moments of crisis.