MONTREAL – Just wanted to thank the professionalism shown to me not only by the Montreal airport Police Department on Monday evening, but also to the fellows working airport security, lost and found as well as their information department.
I did a real dumb thing yesterday and these guys bailed me out. Big time.
What happened was, I landed in Montreal around 6 p.m. and walked outside to find a cab. My backpack – with everything I need to do my job in it, including my laptop, hard drive, Kindle, iPod, etc. – is a little heavy and I had been wearing it for the 45 minutes it took to get through customs. So I sat it down.
And then I got distracted, saw someone I knew from Fox Sports and hopped into a cab. On the way to downtown I thought 'did I put my backpack in the trunk?' but since I never go anywhere without it, figured I had.
I did not. I left the backpack sitting on the ground about 10 yards from the bus stop. Uh oh.
So, I jumped into a cab and raced back to the airport. After going right to the spot where I left the bag – and seeing it was long gone – a feeling of dread hit me. How was I going to work? How would I replace all this stuff? So, I grabbed a Diet Coke, found a security guard and went through the process of putting in a report. Oh yeah, I remembered. The only set of keys to my truck were also in the bag. Great.
I took a cab back to the hotel then raced up St. Catherine's street in 25 degree weather in only jeans and a long sleeve shirt to find a replacement charger for my phone. Once back in my hotel, I plugged in the phone and called my dad to see how much it would cost to replace my keys. We hung up after I told him I was hopeful someone would grab the valuables out of the bag, ditch it and it would be recovered.
As soon as I hung up, the phone buzzed. It was an email from Officer Carmine of the Montreal Police Department. He had found the bag sitting by the bus stop although there had been another lost bag reported. After the other person said my bag was not his, Officer Carmine dug through the bag and found contact information and tried calling me. Then he emailed me with the good news.
Everything was in the bag right where I left it. I went back to the airport and picked it up. Unbelievable.
I'm so stupid.
Thanks again guys.
See you next year.
That's Northern Hospitality, imagine if that had happened down here. You'd have ZERO chance of ever seeing anything in that bag again.
Glad it worked out for you George.
Posted by: Tallon Rulz | March 28, 2012 at 08:00 AM
Exactly as Tallon Rulz stated.
Had this been FLL or MIA, your bag would still be MIA. Thank goodness for the kind hearted Canadians!
Posted by: Jason | March 28, 2012 at 11:22 AM
Welcome to Montréal Mr Richards
We may have the snow and cold weather but also a very low crime level on every aspect and lots of honest people. Fell free to walk on the streets downtown at night.
A city where summers festival and fun is everywhere in the streets all summer long.
To add to your story. the day of your misadventure and just about at the same time, a huge % of the Montréal police force was in the streets taking care of a university students manifestation against fees hikes.
Posted by: Jacques L'Espérance | March 28, 2012 at 03:36 PM