“Cultivate the habit 
of being grateful for 
every good thing
that comes to you.” 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We’ve all heard stories of people who have lost their luggage while flying from one destination to another. Few things can be as unsettling as arriving in a foreign country, or anywhere for that matter, for a two-week visit and learning that your luggage did not accompany you on the flight — and the airline representative at your destination has no idea where your luggage might be. It seems that such stories are fairly common. In reality, they are quite rare.

What we don’t hear — ever — is appreciation for the airline employees who consistently get our luggage from one place to another successfully. This is something we all take for granted. It’s just expected that our checked luggage will arrive at our destination at the same time we do. That’s simply how it’s supposed to work.

In reality, most luggage arrives at the right airport on time every day. In a report updated within the last 24 hours, Delta Airlines, which I will be flying tomorrow, loses or misplaces just .2% of bags checked by passengers. Considering layovers, changes of planes, airport congestion, volume of luggage, flight delays, and human error, that’s an amazing statistic.

Like so many other things in life, we take these men and women for granted. We know they exist. Occasionally, we may see them hard at work either through a terminal window or a window in our aircraft. Are we able to recognize the humanity of these workers, being mindful that they got up early, said goodbye to family members, made their way to the airport, and put in a full day of hard labor to accommodate our needs? 

Rarely do passengers interact directly with those who handle our luggage, so expressing our gratitude to them directly isn’t usually possible. That’s okay, though. We can still feel grateful for the service they provide for us. We can still say a quick prayer of thanks for them when we see them from a distance. And we can acknowledge the good work they did when we are sharing stories of our travels with family and friends.

As American journalist Germany Kent said so eloquently, “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” 

Gratitude makes a difference!