Dear Lovely Simplerista

I'm at Copenhagen Airport, waiting to board our plane back to New York. By the time we land it'll be 3.30am Copenhagen time, and we'll have to go through immigration. I dread the long lines already, but thankfully we now have a freshly minted visa in our passports. It feels great.

We had a little bit of a scare when we got to the airport and tried to check in with our dog. We did have a reservation, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the lady at the counter said we had to have a EU "animal passport" for her in order to travel with her. I was puzzled. She's an American dog, flew over from New York, and a week ago I called the USDA Veterinary Services (the highest authority for this in the US) asking what they needed. They just needed a document showing that she had a rabies vaccination, that's it. We feared a minute that we'd have to forgo our flight tickets, visit a vet, and wait however many days to get a European passport for her. Thankfully she called a supervisor who said it wasn't necessary. Phew.

Next, we were going to check bags. We had one extra bag that we needed to pay for. I'd spent time trying to pay, both at home and at the kiosks at the airport, because paying at the counter is about $15 more expensive. Alas, it didn't work. So we get to the counter and he starts quoting us the higher fee ($115 vs $100). I bring it up, and he says he doesn't have the option of changing the price there. I ask him to talk to a supervisor. He does. He gets directed to another internal phone number. They don't pick up. He says we'll have to take all of our luggage with us again, then go to another counter. I say I can go to that other counter, but I'm not picking up my luggage again, they'll have to figure that out. The guy at the next counter gets involved. Says we'll have to pay the full price then file a complaint card.

All this while, I'm not angry, and I can easily pay the $15 extra, of course, financially it's no big deal. But it just doesn't feel right. I could do it, but I'd feel violated. To make matters even more fun, yesterday I was at a summer house celebrating my daughter's 9th birthday, when this guy Søren drops by who's a friend of the owner of the house. Turns out Søren is the head of all check-in personnel in Copenhagen for the airline I'm flying!

Phoebe and I stick to our gun, not angry, not upset, but not bending either. What happens next astounded me. A lady employee steps up and asks Phoebe, woman to woman, what's going on. Phoebe explains. She looks at the screen, realizes that we've been upgraded to the Economy Extra class, which allows us two pieces of luggage per person. Done. We don't have to pay anything. And the most fascinating thing is, I had a feeling we shouldn't have to pay all along, I just didn't trust it, because I was so intent on avoiding the $15 extra charge.

How lucky they wouldn't take our money at home over the internet, at the kiosk in the airport, or at the counter where we paid for the dog. Sometimes the Universe has to go through so much to make sure we don't get in our own way.

Like when that email about our first visa interview appointment went into the spam folder, so that we'd miss it, and we could keep our appointments with Bengt Valentino Andersen on June 11.

Are you letting the Universe play its part in your life?

Random things from around the interwebs

Must-watch segment of John Oliver's new show, on Cable Company Fuckery (aka Net Neutrality). Did I say must-watch?

Fascinating story with details about the life on a NYC pickpocket.

Article in the New York Times on LGBT in Tech. There was a big parade in SF recently with Apple out in full force - as you may know, the CEO is gay.

Have a great day & week.

With love,
-Calvin