Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.

Pain can be expected.

Mishaps are commonplace.

Flying just isn't the most predictable or controllable of human pursuits.

David Harris, however, underwent something that few airline passengers have surely -- hopefully -- never experienced.

After a six-month military deployment overseas, he took a United Airlines flight back to his home in Colorado.

But then he went to pick up his luggage.

It was wet. It also enjoyed the sort of smell that is difficult to forget.

As he told ABC 7 in Denver, the source of the wetness and the odor was not something anyone would ever want to endure.

He says that someone at baggage claim informed him that the bathroom on the plane had leaked.

And, well, oh.

"My whole life for six months is in that bag. My uniforms are in there, all my workout clothes, gifts for my family, jewelry I had bought for my wife," he told ABC 7.

Thankfully, Twitter provided visual evidence of Harris's plight.

Still here @united... cleaning up your ( if you're just tuning in... #veteran comes home from deployment to luggage covered in "lavatory leak" and @united does nothing... obviously. Leaves him to deal with the mess himself) #WelcomeHome pic.twitter.com/WbQGFgyTCq -- Moriah Riona (@MoriahRiona) October 6, 2018

Given the suggestion that United had done nothing, I contacted the airline for its thoughts.

A spokeswoman told me: "We have been in touch with the customer to apologize and compensate him for the damage to his bags. We are also looking into this situation to further understand what happened."

Harris says he was told he might not get compensation for 8 to 10 weeks. Which seems a touch stinky, given the circumstances.

If it was, indeed, a leaky lavatory, you also have to wonder whether Harris's was the only bag affected.

Might other passengers have got home and detected a troubling fragrance?

Might they not have known about the alleged leak and endured quizzical hours wondering what had happened, or had to do some awkward explaining?

And to think United's just raised its baggage fee to $30 because, it says, it wants to invest more money into the business.