The Lost Banjo
In March of this year I checked my longtime career banjo onto a Delta flight from Seattle to Atlanta following some Alaskan dates that I played with Peter Rowan. I checked it at the gate because the flight was full and there are no closets anymore on most planes, since 9/11, and the overhead bins were full. When I arrived in Atlanta the banjo never came out and the TSA wouldn’t allow me to stand at the gate. (I should have raised hell, but I complied and went to baggage claim as they said.. “It will eventually be there.”) It never came out. I filed a claim, went to the airport for days, talked with them for days and finally gave up. I almost lost my mind. A hole in my soul feeling. Since I didn’t have the original receipt for the banjo (20 year old receipt) they said they could not give me money. I gave up. I wanted the banjo not money. It’s irreplaceable, and it’s my livelihood. I have no money for attorneys and my life with three kids and a career keep me overloaded. However, I believed though at some point in time that it would show up in a google search somewhere on the internet. I searched and searched for months.