Diez Anos: Aventuras de O'Hare (Parte dos)

MAY 30, 2006

I arrive from Austin for my connection to LGA.

My flight is delayed. And delayed. And delayed again.

Outside it is lightening, storming with a familiar brown-green tint (North Texans know what that forbodes)

Finally all outbound flights are cancelled indefinitely.

The next available flight to LGA is in the morning.

I consider sleeping on a cot.

I call the special line for hotels that give good deals to people stuck because of flight problems.

I take a shuttle to a Radisson hotel and get a nice lavendar linen spray and a relaxation CD and sleep on a really big bed.



OCTOBER, 2005

I arrive for my late-night connection to Newark on my first reconnaisance mission to New York City.

My flight is delayed. Until about 2:30. AM.

I am astonished that the airport--O'Hare, the second busiest in the world--appears to be closed except for the poor stragglers at my gate.

I call my dear old friend Eddie, who is driving from Queens to pick me up in New Jersey and return me to Queens. I tell him that my flight will now be arriving at 3:30 am rather than 1 am.

He says, "OK!" No complaints. What a friend.





JULY (1999? 2000?)

I am returning to San Antonio from Madison, WI. The little propeller jet that shuttles us from Madison to O'Hare arrives late.

I am waiting in the front seat of the plane so that as soon as the steps are lowered, i'm the first person to dash down tehsteps, across the tarmac, through the terminal.

My connection is in TERMINAL C.

I run through the underground tunnel, speeding along the moving sidewalk. I run to my gate, which is, dramatically, at the very end of the terminal. As i am running to them, the attendants shout, "Walker?!" I shout back, "Walker!" One moves to open the door to the bridge while the other shouts into a phone, "Walker is here!"

They smile and usher me down the bridge as the door to the plane is re-opened and i board.

Really. It was like that.



JANUARY 1 (1998? 1999?)

I am in O'Hare with most of the Texas InterVarsity staff team. My flight is oversold. I decide with Lynette to give up my seat for a $500 voucher. We take a shuttle to a nice hotel and each get our own room (on the airport tab) to stay the night until the next morning's earliest flight.

In the morning, i call for oatmeal from roomservice. The woman on the other line is hesitant but brings it. As i dash down to meet the rest of the airport shuttlers, Lynette tells me they wouldn't bring her breakfast. I feel a few glares.

I use the voucher in 2002 to fly to Amsterdam.



SPRING BREAK, 1997

I am flying to Chicago for the first time. We are a group of idealistic InterVarsity students going to experience an "Urban Plunge" on the South Side of the city.

I am amazed by O'Hare. The high, arched-glass terminals are beautiful. The beeping carts carrying walking-impaired passengers turn the corridors into streets. The psychadelic ride on the long moving sidewalk to Terminal C is hilariously fantastic. I think it's a wonderful airport. Little did i know...



Wikipedia's trusted page about O'Hare states that "O'Hare currently accounts for over a sixth of the nation's total flight cancellations." No doubt.