My Return to England- December 2009

My journey back home, and I say home merely because it has always felt like home, held much drama. The airline this time was Etihad, chosen for the successful completion of a plan devised to surprise and shock my family. For the surprise to work I had to get to the house on my own and since the said airlines has a chauffeur service for it’s business class travellers, I was generously treated to travel in style.
The flight was at an inconvenient hour, 3:45 in the morning, but together with my 5 year old, we excitedly embarked upon our journey, wide eyed and eager. The interior of the plane was indeed impressive; cabin style seats with maximum privacy, big screen TV, and an a la carte menu was all too grand. And thus we soon made ourselves comfortable and with another eight hours in the plane to London I convinced my son to sleep for the three hours we had to Abu Dhabi. Well rested, we were more than willing to explore the Abu Dhabi airport which sadly had not much to offer except store after store of all possible designer names you can think of, not very tempting to one free of brand phobia. So instead, we relaxed some more in the airline lounge and patiently waited for our next flight to be announced.
The ensuing part of our travel started off with equal enthusiasm. The prospects of surprising my family by my unexpected arrival was thrilling enough and I just couldn't wait to get the eight hours over. My son reclined his seat, immediately loosing himself to the world of kids’ entertainment. I kept myself busy with a movie, my book of course and with the numerous tempting choices on the menu. It was precisely after the turkey bagel, during the last hour of our journey, that I took my son to the toilet; the moment in time that changed my outlook on many things and sucked out every bit of excitement there was replacing it with despair, remorse and a feeling of complete and utter helplessness.
Til today, I heart wrenchingly, lament the moment I took off my watch, my precious gold and diamond watch, in the toilet. Together with my diamond ring, I put the two things carefully on the top right shelf next to the hand lotion. Oh! what caused such negligence on my part I cannot answer, but the rest of the journey was as miserable as one can imagine. Within five minutes of returning to my seat I realized my folly and went back to reclaim my valuables, but they were gone. I should have created a scene, raised alarm; as a matter of fact there’s a lot that I should have done. It’s not my leaving my belongings in the toilet that haunts me but my inability to have done something about it. Instead I sat there in my seat, repeatedly assured by the members of the crew that they would carry out a search of the few passengers that were on board the business class upon our arrival. I was made to file an official report and led to believe that everything possible would be done to find my things. My mother’s watch, the ring that was a present from my sister, all the time there, in that little confined space, so close yet inaccessible to me. I wish I had taken matters into my own hands. But I just sat there, praying, hoping, wishing, waiting, trusting the crew’s false assurances, dreaming of the culprit being caught by the authorities and anticipating my pleasure at seeing my things once again. Alas! We landed, the aircraft soon came to a stop, my heart started racing in hopeful expectation; the doors opened, but instead of uniformed men standing ready to stop and search the passengers, everyone started disembarking without the slightest hint of an investigation. I looked imploringly at one of the crew members but he simply turned his head away. I felt betrayed, cheated but above all humiliated. The insensitivity of the crew shocked me. They did absolutely nothing to find my belongings. A monetary loss of such grave proportions, and not even an announcement was made!
I sat in my ride with a heavy heart, all else forgotten. Nearing my parent’s house, a lot went through my head. I had been careless no doubt, but someone else had also disregarded their social and moral responsibility, lack of which is nothing short of a crime in itself. I had only lost my possessions but that someone else had just lost a great deal more in gaining the displeasure of Allah. I was content again. The car stopped in front of the house and I got out with a smile on my face, following my oblivious son to the door where all happiness awaited.