I need to manage a lot of different projects at the moment. My calendar is fully booked and there isn’t space for anything new until the end of October. But when the call came in, I knew that it was an emergency and that I needed to help. I had to move all my appointments, had to apologise to a lot of people and arrange new meetings. Friday was thus fully booked out from morning till evening. As I travel a lot, I am well organised and I find packing easy. But because of this exceptional situation I had to take an additional bag.

Equipped with a small bag (for my telephone, money and documents), a backpack for my laptop and a white paper bag (first thing in the morning, in a hurry shortly before 6 a.m., I couldn’t think of another solution) I headed to Bern. I want to have my hands free that’s why I always carry a backpack and the paper bag just bothered me.

I had the discussion in Bern, finished in time and marched over to the station to catch my train. Before getting on the train I bought a bottle of water at the corner shop. When I got off in Zurich and ran to the next connection I realized that my hands seemed suspiciously empty. I’m such an idiot, I left the bag on the train. It was my own fault which didn’t exactly make it any better. The train had left a long time ago and so had my bag. I called SBB, notified them of the missing item and was very sceptical. I was told that if the bag was found I could pick it up the following week in Zurich.

But in the evening when I lay in bed doubts started to creep in. What if I actually hadn’t left the bag on the train but in the corner shop where I had bought the water? Suddenly I wasn’t so sure. In the same night I called the corner shop (they’re open till late) but the conversation didn’t help. So I decided to travel to Bern on Saturday. I have a GA (a public transportation pass with unlimited travel). It was Saturday lunch time when I got on the train from Zurich to Bern. I wondered what was going on since the train was full. Not only full but overcrowded.. It looked like Monday morning traffic.

Only in Bern I realised why there had been such a crowd. There was a climate demonstration, hundreds of people were there with banners and posters. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. There were a huge number of well-known faces of different politicians, some of them with their children, especially those from the Left. Unfortunately I didn’t find the bag at the lost property office or at the kiosk. But like this I could become part of something greater. Yes, I think it’s right that we do something for our planet, for our offspring. It can even cost a little.

On the way back (in the nearly empty train) I stopped mourning my bag.

I thought about what is important in life and at the end of the day every contribution helps to achieve something great.

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