If there’s one thing that gets under my skin with airlines more than their eagerness to drop unnecessary fees, it’s the way they handle our baggage. As a surfer, this is nothing new to me. We endure the most brutal intersection of these two maddening corners of airline travel — the aspect that involves being at the mercy of constantly changing baggage size limits and the obscene fees they invite, as well as the stress of potentially arriving at our destinations with a board bag that lost a fight with a wolverine.
Now, in their defense, it’s not always an airline’s fault that your baggage doesn’t survive transit. Smaller airports often contract workers that would handle tasks of airline employees at larger airports, i.e. baggage handlers. And passengers don’t have the luxury of knowing the individual who accidentally or carelessly mishandled their belongings…most of the time. In a recent viral video out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one baggage handler was caught red handed absolutely abusing a load of guitars.
Footage taken by a passenger onboard shows the baggage handler doing exactly what we all imagine they do when we find dings on our surfboards. Soft case, hard case, it didn’t matter. This guy was not about to put any strain on that lower back and even consider gently placing the guitars down. If those things weren’t built Ford Tough it was clearly the owner’s problem, not his.
Reporting by CBS LA and comments on the original viral video show just how foreign this whole problem is to anybody who doesn’t surf. People are genuinely shocked to learn that an airport baggage handler has no regard for the belongings of another person, and their sentiments about why luggage should be treated with some care and respect fall in line with what surfers have been screaming about for years.
Now, if you’re wondering, and I know I was so I looked it up: no, the culprit was never outed. He’s most likely using your surfboard for axe throwing practice as you reads this.
