On the road…again!!!
Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek

 

Grand Theft Wheelchair

At some time in the near future, the Footloose Forester will have to confess that his legs, his wind, and his muscles are not up to each and every task.  That is why, when he was faced with lugging his two travel bags, plus the one his sister Mary Grover left at arrival gate D51 of American Airlines at Dulles International Airport that day in early September, 2024… well he did not want to face the prospect of packing everything through the long corridors, down the escalators and unto the metro train bound for the baggage claim carrousels, a quarter of a mile away.

His hand-crafted cane, cut from a live wild grape vine and gifted to him by his erstwhile neighbor Bob Wachter, was a clue that he was anticipating a few challenges in staying steady during the upcoming adventures in Eastern Europe.  The bucket list pilgrimage of three weeks was finally emerging from his dreams and he wanted to be prepared, if ever we got a chance to wander into a forest.

Sister Mary had gone ahead and without her backpack to retrieve her heavy suitcase, the only item that we had to surrender as checked baggage.  It was a big mistake on our part, because although she retrieved her luggage without delay, the security folks would not allow her to return to the arrival gates where Footloose Forester was waiting for more than an hour.  As it turned out, shortly after all the passengers from our flight disappeared into the cavernous arrival terminal, so did the staff of American Airlines.  They presumably packed up and shut down their duty station at Arrivals, for the night.  It got quiet and the number of travelers arriving from other flights also dwindled down.  And forget about the earlier call from Sister Mary to our arrival gate with the message that someone in Security would send a wheelchair to help load the luggage.

After an hour or so, and no wheelchair coming for him down the corridor, the Footloose Forester decided to pull a surreptitious heist.  He borrowed one of the several wheelchairs standing unattended near the gate, loaded the three bags and his cane onto the seat and wheeled his merry way in the direction of the Baggage Claims carrousel where his sister awaited.  Yeah, it was Grand Theft Wheelchair, but he pulled it off without so much as raising a suspicious eyebrow.  And in case you are wondering, he confessed the heist to the AA folks in the baggage claims area.