Rachel Wimberly

Atlanta, Thanks for Everything

I recently went to Atlanta for the Intl. Assn. of Exhibitions and Events’ Expo! Expo!,held Dec. 8-10.

While there, one of the many gatherings I attended was a “Gone With the Wind” movie tribute party hosted by the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau at the beautiful Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta.

My co-workers and I took a shuttle bus over to the party, had a great time eating, drinking and networking, and then headed back to the hotel, where even more parties were taking place.

About a half hour later, I noticed that my wallet was gone. Beyond my I.D. being in it, I also was heading off to a week’s vacation in New York City the next day and all of my credit cards now were missing.

I immediately ran outside to see if the shuttle buses that took us to the party were still around. They were long gone, but there was a Georgia state trooper there who offered to help me.

He called every shuttle bus company in town until he tracked down the one that had serviced the party I attended earlier in the evening.

The dispatcher from the company said all the buses were back in the holding yard but, even though he was the only one working and needed to man the phones, he still went out to the buses and searched every one of them looking for my wallet to no avail.

Next, a co-worker of mine and I jumped into a cab and headed back to the theater where the party was held hoping against hope it still would be open.

The entire theater was dark, and the doors were locked. I was about to get back into the cab when a custodian walked out a side door, and I flagged him down and told him the situation.

He reopened the theater, turned on all the lights and he searched through the entire place with me looking under chairs and couches and even in the bathroom, again, to no avail.

Completely dejected, I almost gave up until I remembered that I definitely had my wallet on the bus coming back from the party.

I called the shuttle bus dispatcher again and begged him to take another look, and, alas, he found it wedged in between a seat and a window.

I couldn’t believe it.

An hour later, a chauffeured car showed up at the hotel and dropped off my wallet.

I always have liked the city of Atlanta and thought the people there were incredibly gracious and hospitable. Now, I know more than most just how far the people there will go to help someone who really needs it.

Thank you, Atlanta.

Posted by Rachel Wimberly on December 21, 2009 | Comments (1)