[Rick Lee]

Of course, I knew it was on me. Had I waited in the lines, I'd have missed my flight. Again, I could live without everything in that suitcase, but really didn't want to miss my flight. I wasn't ever going to see any of those people again, so I decided to argue at every checkpoint. AND ... after I checked in online the night before, I got an email from Lufthansa saying to please consider gate-checking my carry-on luggage (free of charge) to free up overhead bin space. I'm not blaming anyone but Lufthansa for not being able to handle the bag check stuff and the totally understaffed immigration and security checkpoints. There were a whopping four immigration cops with a line of thousands of people before them. Would you believe my plane was delayed because people's bags had made it onto the plane, but the passengers hadn't (because of the immigration and security lines), so their luggage had to be removed? Plane left without them. A total clusterfook all around. I thought Germans were better than most at this stuff, but Dulles has them crushed in every category.