The Tale of the Bright Orange Laundry Bag (and my misery)

Let me just tell you how happy I am (and I mean genuinely happy) that I am flying KLM this weekend when I go to Copenhagen. Of the 3 places that I have been thus far that I have travelled by plane, I have flown EasyJet 2 out of 3 times: first to Prague and then, this past weekend, to Berlin. Yes, I felt safe. Yes, the flight attendants were nice. Yes, I am alive. Okay, now that we got past the important stuff, I will tell you about a little thing called my bright orange laundry bag and how I was forced to use it as my carry on. No, it was not a pretty sight. 


My carry-on bag, which I knew clearly fit EasyJet regulations as I had used it before, felt a little heavy on my way back from Berlin and I decided I would double check with the lady who was printing my boarding pass if she thought the bag would be alright. While EasyJet has no weight regulations, I can only lift so much over my head, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Besides, you are only allowed ONE bag to carry-on with you, which meant I still had to fit my little cross-body bag inside as well. She told me that I was totally fine and to go stand on the security line. After standing on an annoyingly long line in a smelly, outdated terminal, I got to the front only for another woman who barely spoke any English to tell me I needed to get off the line and repack my bag. My so called "totally fine" carry-on was clearly not fine. And, neither was I. I had one of those, I feel like I am going to hysterically cry moments coupled with a heat flash that was only heightened when my hanky-pankys fell out of my bag and onto the foot of the man in front of me. It was obvious to me that this bag was not going to get repacked to this woman's standards considering her and I were not exactly on the same page as far as the whole language thing goes. Hence, where the orange laundry bag comes in. I obviously knew the hysterical fit that I felt coming on was not a suitable option so instead I decided to empty out my bright orange laundry bag that had all my dirty clothes in it-- cue more hanky-pankys-- and put my laptop and my purse inside. No, this was not resourceful of me. This was desperate. I then got off the line, waited in a couple more lines, paid the 35 euro fee for checking a bag at the last minute, got back on the front of the security line and walked through with my bright orange laundry bag in tow. Lets put it this way, when I got on the plane, I was hot, sweaty, tired, and had an orange laundry bag slung over my shoulder... I can only imagine what the woman sitting next to me thought. All I kept thinking was that it was a good thing that I'm not famous because the paparazzi would really have had a field day. 


I can see it now...Famous Blogger, Arielle Rothstein, uses a Laundry Bag as her Carry-On. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? pg 3 for more details. 

I wasn't kidding when I said it was a bright orange laundry bag. And for those in the airport who were unsure what I was carrying, not only are the words "LAUNDRY BAG" written at the top, but there is a lovely illustration of a what I believe to be is a washing machine. Really, it was a sight to see.