To Tag or Not To Tag

To get a better perspective of this story, we have to back track a little bit, so here we go.

I am on a tight schedule, heading back home to Ontario from beautiful Vancouver Island, via the bus. Right now, I am on the ferry between Nanaimo (Dukes Point) and Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay). We are 30 minutes out of Nanaimo when we hear “Could all the passengers who were planning on catching the connecting bus, please make their way to the Chief Stewards office!” When I get to the Chief Stewards office, I see that there are about 25 of us. The woman at the counter says, “There may not be a bus waiting for you when we arrive in Horseshoe Bay.” “The bus terminal in Vancouver has let us know there is a bomb threat, so they are trying to get that sorted out.” She also says, “If and where there is more to report I will let you all know!” We all find our ways back to our seats and hope for the best. Thirty minutes later, there is another announcement for bus passengers to go to the Chief Stewards office. She says, “The bomb still has not been dismantled but there will be a bus sent for you.” “However, it is just being sent out so it will be 45 – 60 minutes late.”

The ferry lands and is unloaded of all the passengers. The 25 or so of us start walking toward the area that the bus is supposed to pick us up. We are also told, “It is after 5 so the bus we need has already left, so we will have to wait for the next one.”

A couple of young men have been touring back and forth in amongst the parked cars in the parking lot near where the rest of us are standing or sitting. They come back over to us after about 30 minutes and one grabs something out of his backpack. He looks around and says, “We are going to see if there is any news on what is happening with that bus. They step onto their boards and start moving toward the ferry terminal. One calls back saying, “And we will try to see if there is any more word on that bomb threat at the bus terminal.” They both push off at the same time and skate away.

Its almost 6 when we see a bus drive around the ferry terminal, we watch and get ready to board, but as the bus comes around the corner it keeps on going. The driver barely looks at us as he drives by us and drives away. The skateboarders, who had gone into the ferry terminal to see what they could find out, return saying, “They don’t know what’s happening with the bus or the bomb!” It is almost 7: pm and still no bus. In the two hours since the ferry docked, several people have given up waiting and have either caught one of the transit busses, called friends or family to come them or hired a taxi so there are only eight of us left to wait for bus. We see a bus come and park a distance away from us, he does not attempt to park near us or get out of the bus, so we pick up our luggage and walk over to the bus. He opens the door, but still does not attempt to come out of the bus. He asks, “Who are you waiting for?” With looks of puzzlement, we look at each other and then respond in chorison with, “You!!!” He almost jumped with our responses, but then asked, “Me?” “Why me?” One of the passengers tells him, “We have been here since 5 pm waiting for a bus to come and get us!” I tell him, “When we got off the ferry at 4:45 we were told that the bus would be late because of the bomb threat and we are still waiting.” His answer was a bit of a letdown for us, he said, “I am here to pick up the passengers off this ferry so I don’t have room for you!” He continues on saying, “You will have to wait for the next bus!” He adds, “It will be another hour or so before that bus comes though!” We tell him, “We are paying passengers too and considering that we have been here, waiting, for two hours we are either getting onto this bus or you will not be going anywhere until another bus is sent.” The driver relents and allows us to board the bus. One of the passengers is a blogger and as she gets on the bus, she tells the driver and anyone who can hear her voice, “This soooo going onto my blog!!!”

After sitting on the crowded bus for an hour, we finally arrive at the Vancouver bus terminal. I find out that the terminal is the home of two businesses: Greyhound and Amtrak.

Since my connecting bus left at 6:30 and it is now after 8 pm, I have to find out when the next bus headed east leaves. I ask the baggage handler, “Can leave my luggage and will come back in a few minutes to retrieve them?” He gives me a strange look and says, “Definitely not!” “You cannot leave your bags unattended at any time!” That being said I grab hold of the handle of my oversized suitcase and head for the entrance of the bus terminal. I am glad Kathy and Darrell traded my tote for this suitcase on wheels. It really would have sucked if I had to lug that huge tote around. It takes me a few minutes to get inside because not only am I lugging the oversize suitcase, I have my laptop backpack, my purse, a cloth bag with my travel blanket, and my carryon bag. I am finally standing in front of the ticket booth office waiting in line to find out when the next bus will be in and to get some change so I can put my luggage into one of the storage lockers I walked by when I came into the building. I give my ticket to the man on the other side of the counter. I tell him, “My bus left at 6:30, but I was stuck at the ferry terminal due to your bomb threat, so I missed my bus!” He tells me, “We need to cash in this ticket and re-issue a new ticket!” I ask, “Is that going to cost me more?” He responds by saying, “No, I am basically just reprinting this ticket, but in order to get you on the next bus!” I asked, “What happened with the bomb thing?” “We were told by the Chief Steward on the ferry that a bomb was found!” He informed me, “It was only a bomb threat, but yes we had to close the terminal down to be on the safe side.” Which leads me to ask, “So what happened???” He tells me, “It was actually a passenger coming off of the train.” “They left their luggage unattended and untagged.” The bags were noticed about 30 minutes after the train was unboarded and when they checked to see if a customer had forgotten their luggage they were found to be untagged, so with our policies and their training they were automatically deemed as a bomb.” Something that added to the concern was that a couple days ago a phone call came in warning to be on the alert, because a terrorist faction was going to set a bomb here.” I asked again, “So what happened?” “Did they disarm the bomb or was it a fake?” “A scare tactic?” He said, “No, it turned out that a family traveling across Canada and headed for the U. S. left their bags, not thinking that there would be a problem.” “They said they didn’t abandon their bags, they just left them there, figuring they would be safe where they were.” I asked, “Did they face charges, receive any fines or severe rebuke for causing the shut-down of a major transportation hub?” He told me, “They have not been charged yet, but they were told not to leave Vancouver until a decision was made one way or another” “In a way, because they will now have to change all their plans and tickets, that seems to be a pretty hefty fine, but they may still be charged for reckless abandonment!”

So, the next time you go on a trip, be it local or distant make sure NOT to leave your baggage without ownership tags or give the appearance of abandoning your luggage. By making sure you have all your luggage tagged and at your side or stored in a locker, you will save a whole lot of hassle for others who are travelling too.