Sources all over the interwebs today are bustling with news of Jesse Maiman, a man from Ohio who recently lost his Xbox 360 while traveling with U.S. Airways. The Yale student checked his luggage at his departure point which included his Xbox 360 with an upgraded hard drive. On Dec. 17, 2008, somewhere between the conveyor belt at New Haven, Connecticut and the conveyor belt at his destination in Cincinatti, Ohio–his luggage miraculously lost weight. Weight totaling about $1700 or that of a modified Xbox and accessories that were lost with it.
To use a phrase coined by POI over at MisterAbsurd.com, “Dey Tuk R Xbox!“. Again!
After struggling with the airline over his lost item, it became apparent he would not recover his Xbox before leaving the airport. In fact, I’m almost certain there is a baggage handler under U.S. Airways employ that is laughing his ass off at this Yale student as his deed is publicized nationwide. If that handler had a conscience, I’d scold him and wish him well playing his stolen X-box! What a jerk.
The more tragic part of the story is the this: Our 21-Years-young, inexperienced traveler has the audacity to sue the airline for his $1700 mistake. This would seem reasonable if:
- They forced him to check an expensive piece of equipment.
- It happened on one of those flights with breeze-way luggage check or…
- He wasn’t suing for $1,000,000.
That’s right. He’s suing the airline for $1 Million in damages. Sadly, the only damage I can see is in this young man’s brain. Tell me if you think he should get a million dollars or anything at all? It seems reasonable that they reimburse him for his stolen equipment. It does not seem reasonable that he receive $1 miLLeEon dollars for it.
The moral of the story is this: When traveling, never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever check an Xbox 360, a laptop, jewelry, unopened Air-Jordans or any other item of value. Ever.
