There are probably many reasons why the Italian airline Alitalia seems to be almost always teetering on the verge of bankruptcy - here is one of them.

To be sure, our family vacation in Greece was a dream trip.

We visited many of the country’s historical icons sucn as the Parthenon. We ate well. Drank well and even the Bombshell of the Balkans was able to reconnect with long-lost family members.

And to be more than fair, our flights aboard Alitalia from New York to Rome to Athens and returning back to the United States from Athens to Milan to New York, were very comfortable with commendable on-board service.

No problem - until we landed at JFK in New York.

It was then we discovered Zeus the Younger’s luggage, alas, had been lost.

And indeed is was the loss of his personal belongings, which prompted this letter from a Jessica Morales, Customer Relations Representative for the airline, dated May 5, 2008.

In the letter Ms, Morales stated that in order to process Plato the Younger’s lost baggage claim, the airline would require:
1) The original “property irregularity report” from JFK.
2) The original clear copy of his Alitalia ticket.
3) A copy his bag tag.
And 4) “Receipts where applicable.”

He was also told: “It is important that we receive this information within the next 30 days or your claim may no longer be honored. Upon receipt of the above requested information and documentation, we will investigate your claim. You will then be notified in writing as to how we will conclude the matter.”

Oh, did I mentioned the letter from Alitalia was dated May 5, 2008? And oh did I mention we took this ill-fated trip aboard Alitalia in - May, 2007?

It has taken Alitalia literally one full year to finally get around to dealing with a lost baggage claim - literally 365 days. And they were snitty about it, too!

It may come as something of a surprise to Alitalia, but hardly to the rest of us, that after a year since the flight home, the odds of a 21-year-old college student still being in possession of the paperwork demanded by the airline is about the same as Barry Bonds keeping a paper trail of every time he met with his, ... uh, “trainer.”

And now after 12 months of being treated with more indifference by Alitalia than George W. Bush eyeing the U.S. Constitution, the carrier is demanding we better come up with all the relevant documentation in the next 30 days - or else, they will continue to ignore us with even more fervent disreagrd than they have the preceding 12 months.

Tell you what Ms. Morales, it’s merely a sneaking suspicion but it’s become fairly apparent the recovery of our son’s luggage does not appear to be a big priority.

In the spirit of cross-Atlantic relations, we give up.

If you should happen upon the lad’s baggage, if you want, go ahead and keep it.

But we would advise you, whatever you do Ms. Morales do not open the bag. It’s contains mostly the dirty laundry of a college student accumulated after a 10-day Greek vacation - a year ago! No good will come of this.

And you think the canal of Venice are, uh, gamy!