If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Pack your camel costumes securely, people! The only thing worse than trying to get that thing packed in the first place is seeing a baggage handler running around wearing it on the tarmac.
This happened to David Cox of Sydney, Australia, this week. Cox was waiting to board a Qantas flight when he noticed a baggage handler wearing a camel costume. Believing that this was not normal attire for Qantas baggage handlers, and that camel costumes are relatively rare, even in Australia, Mr. Cox surmised (correctly) that the baggage handler had stolen his own camel costume out of his checked baggage and was flagrantly wearing it on the runway. “I obviously was flabbergasted . . . my jaw dropped to the ground,” Cox said. “I went to the customer service desk . . . and said, ‘Look, I’ve checked my luggage through, someone’s obviously been through my luggage, taken [my camel costume] out, now is wearing [said camel costume] across the tarmac, what’s going on?”
Cox actually expressed a grudging admiration for the deed, but still believed it could not be countenanced: “It’s the kind of larrikin [rowdy] thing that an Australian would do, but given the current situation . . . it’s obviously a poor decision.” A Qantas spokesman said the incident had been recorded by security cameras and the camel-suit thief would likely be dismissed (assuming he could be identified).
I enjoyed the fact that the Australian news report gave absolutely no explanation as to why Mr. Cox was traveling with a camel costume. I guess they considered it just the kind of larrikin thing that an Australian would do. The Reuters report explained that Cox is a “marketing manager,” and that he also had a crocodile costume with him, but didn’t say what the costumes were for.
Meanwhile, attorneys for an Australian who has been charged with drug smuggling by Indonesian authorities said they were reviewing the incident to see if it could be used to prove that someone could have slipped the 4 kilos of marijuana into the accused woman’s camel costume, I mean suitcase.