OMG - I forgot to tell you guys the best part!  So the next day I'm sitting on the plane waiting to take off on the way home, and we're just sitting there at the gate.  For ages.  I was seated next to this really nice French family.  There were a couple of announcements, but they were in French with no translation.  

Finally, after about 45 minutes, I asked the French family what was going on.  The guy says that the plane's been delayed because some people checked on their baggage but then couldn't get into the boarding area and they had to unload all the bags to return them to the people who missed the flight.

I just looked at the guy (he said it so casually) and I'm all... so... if I'm understanding you correctly, some passengers got to the counter in time to check their baggage, but just missed the one hour cut off to the gate, and then they delay the flight an hour to get their luggage back to them?  Does this make any sense?  He goes, well... hmm... I never thought about it, but I guess it doesn't and we both started laughing.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes