Have you ever slept in an airport?

Sleeping in an airport is certainly an entertaining experience that everyone should be privileged to have at least once in life. It is 8:00 AM Chicago time and I have been in the airport for 15 hours at this point. I just woke up after sleeping on the floor of O’Hare Airport. Of course we arrived here last night in ample time to check bags and wait through the lines of security. As we were waiting for the departure of our flight to Harrisburg, PA, a horrific storm came up. Each flight was postponed in 10 minute increments for about 2 hours as we all sat and waited. At first it was just heavy rain and lightning. One piece of information that I learned is that the airport ground crew can not work on the ground when there is lightning. It is a very real hazard that they may get struck by lightning. I never thought about it before, although it makes perfect sense with all of those metal airplanes nearby. There was a plane or two sitting just off the loading ramps waiting for the storms to subside. I mean these planes were only like 30 feet from the ramps. You would think an experienced pilot could just swing into the ramp without the assistance of the ground crew. I mean how hard can it be?! Either you can drive a plane or not…..

I was grateful to be in the icy cold terminal, rather than the stuffy plane on the tarmac! Later they did manage to bring the plane in to the ramp, during a lull in the lightning bolts that were zigzagging through the sky. The air conditioning was at an all time low. I was dressed for the 95 degree day that we just came out of. It was freezing! As the planes continued to get postponed and then gradually one after another they were canceled, it became apparent to everyone that we were not going home. The little waiting area we were waiting in, G-9, represented a plane to Rochester, NY and our plane to Harrisburg. The 12-15 people started to become acquainted. A pregnant woman, a 76-year-old lady, a woman with a handicap and hip problems, who along with her traveling companion had just come in from Paris, an lady with Alzheimer’s who was totally out of it and taking the attention of many. An Asian couple who did not speak English, and 4 Pampered Chef consultants, as well as myself rounded out our corner of the world. One business traveling gentleman left our circle, I believe because the lady with Alzheimer’s kept bothering him and asking to use his phone. The group took turns checking the board and returning with the latest updates. Rochester is postponed to 10:55 and Harrisburg postponed to 11:30, and on it went from 7:00 PM until midnight when the news came that Rochester plane was canceled and the Harrisburg plane postponed to 11:55. I knew it was only minutes to cancellation so I stood at the board and as soon as the cancellation hit, I pressed speed dial to customer service to reschedule our departure. I got 2 of the 4 seats on the next flight to Harrisburg, before the cancellation was even announced.

When the cancellation was announced, the desk was stormed. We had confirmed seats on the 8:45 AM flight. An interpreter was called in for the Asian people. The son of the lady with Alzheimer’s was on a cell phone. I believe she was in the care of the airport staff and sort of forgotten about in the “crisis”. Anyway at some point she totally disappeared permanently. It appeared as though she was rolled onto the ramp to the plane and never seen again. I am not sure what happened to her. She had been quite a burden on everyone. Constantly wandering off, and being brought back by someone else. So that was the end of her! The airport staff really wants nothing to do with the rescheduling. They give out the number of customer service and leave it at that. The pregnant lady and one of the Pampered Chef consultants could not get a flight out until Friday, two days later. They decided to take a flight this morning to Baltimore instead of Harrisburg. When they called home, the husbands were totally pissed-off and the women cried on the phone to their husbands late into the night. Anyway most of the Harrisburg people got put on stand-by for our flight or had to go find tickets on another airline if they wanted to go home today. 18 people on stand-by for a full flight!

When it is a weather related problem that causes air problems, the airlines do not offer hotel, meal vouchers or air on other airlines. You are on your own! All of the airlines flying were grounded. 10,000 people in O’Hare. The place is freezing. I ended up buying a Chicago T-shirt to wear over my light weight summer shirt. There were no sweat shirts for sale in the entire airport. It is a big airport and I walked the whole thing a dozen times last night. My sweater, long pants, and laptop cord all packed safely in my checked luggage. About 4 hours into o………..
To be continued later, my lap top died after I typed the above.