The gnome will pay for this.
My flight from South Bend to Chicago landed a half-hour early, but for some reason, we got stranded on the tarmac at O’Hare for over an hour, waiting for a gate to open up. Yeah, really annoying. You’d think there’d be one we could use somewhere! Anyway, my 35-minute layover made for a pretty close connection to begin with, and this pushed it over the edge. By the time I got off the plane, collected my gate-checked luggage, and ran at top speed from Concourse A to Concourse B, my flight to Hartford had already left.
(Side note: even in the midst of my stressful sprint from A to B, I was rather entertained by my mental picture of myself: struggling with two heavy suitcases on poorly balanced rollers and a backback with a strap that kept falling off my shoulder… weaving frantically around other travellers who got in my way… sweating up a storm… my mouth gaping open as I gasped for air… my ridiculously long Beatle hair flying all over the place… I must have been an amusingly pathetic sight.)
United Airlines flight 1230 — the flight I was supposed to be on — was the last flight of the night from O’Hare to Bradley. I inquired about flights to Boston, Providence, etc., but they were either nonexistent or full. So I’m stranded in Chicago for the night.
United gave me a coupon for a discounted hotel room (they did not offer to pay for the hotel outright, because, they said, gate problems are not their fault, they’re air traffic control’s fault; nevermind that the plane which was in the original gate past its appointed time was a United flight), but I decided to just stay in the airport. Getting to a hotel and back really isn’t worth the trouble — especially when I’m carrying two full-fledged suitcases around — when I would have to be back here by like 5:45 AM. (My new flight, United #520, leaves at 7:15.) Allowing for travel time to and from the hotel, I’ll probably get at least as much sleep here as I would have there, and my morning will be much simpler.
So, here’s a look at my “bed” for the night, and my lovely view of the concourse:
After walking almost from one end of the concourse to the other, I found what appears to be the only couch/bench thingy in the whole place that has three cushions uninterrupted by armrests, instead of just two. Woohoo! When I stretch out to sleep, I’ll almost fit! :) Also, as you can see, I have a pillow, given to me by the friendly gate agent when I said I planned to stay here for the night. (There was a random pillow stashed behind the gate counter — and a good thing, too, because this is the first time I think I’ve ever travelled without bring a stuffed animal to serve as a pillow.) And the seats themselves are downright comfortable, by airport standards — they’re cushy and soft, not like the hard-as-nails crap I had to deal with at JFK the only other time I was stranded at an airport overnight. (That was really annoying, because I flew all the way from L.A. to New York and then got stranded at JFK waiting for a half-hour connecting flight to Hartford. I could have driven from New York to Hartford and back, and back again, in the time I spent waiting for that damn flight.)
Anyway, I’m actually not that upset about this. Sarah’s wake isn’t until 5:00 PM, and I should be on the ground well before noon, so that’s not a problem, as long as I make it on the morning flight as planned. And I look at this as sort of an adventure. It’s like a camping trip, except at an airport! :) As the title of this post suggests, I feel a bit like Tom Hanks’s character in The Terminal. Now if only Katherine Zeta-Jones would show up and seduce me… and by “Katherine Zeta-Jones,” of course I mean “Becky, looking incredibly sexy”… and by “looking incredibly sexy,” of course I mean “looking the way she always looks”… okay, I’d better stop before I dig myself in any deeper… :)
Anyway… I should go. Thanks again to the guestbloggers for all their hurricane coverage. Keep it coming! See y’all tomorrow.
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Categories: Uncategorized
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September 21st, 2005 at 7:53:09 am
You and/or Becky are always welcome to stay with us in Chicago…
Also, if this happens again, we are 20 minutes out to the airport (with no traffic), and have more comfortable sleeping arrangements available.
September 21st, 2005 at 10:07:02 am
Thank you for an amusing and light-hearted sketch to start my day! You would have been justified in posting a rant, even though it wouldn’t have changed your circumstances.
I’m sure many others like me (unknown to you) are holding you and yours (unknown to me) in our thoughts.
September 21st, 2005 at 10:14:09 am
Catherine Zeta-Jones…. with a C.
I affectionately refer to her as CZJ.
September 21st, 2005 at 10:41:08 am
Brendan in this tough time I have to say you have kept my spirit’s up! I’m am 100% amused! I’m sorry that your misfortune has proved to be my entertainment. I do feel awful for your experience also. Don’t think I’m just having a laugh at your expense… it just seems like one of those Murphy’s law things! Just when things couldn’t get worse…..
September 21st, 2005 at 10:50:02 am
Next time tell them in no uncertain terms they are paying for the hotel room. They will pay, you just have to be forceful about it.
It is their fault, they schedule the planes not air traffic control.
September 21st, 2005 at 10:54:53 am
Nice little adventure, Brendan. I’m sure you’ll be glad to sleep on a real bed after that!
A word of advice though: I don’t ever book a flight with a connection that has a layover of less than 45 min minimum for the very reason that you found out - planes are late! I usually shoot for about an hour layover time and I’ve found that it has saved me countless times that flights have been delayed a bit.
September 21st, 2005 at 12:15:49 pm
United has to pay; as David said, raise hell until they do.
Why didn’t you just take the train to Chicago like you had done previously?
September 21st, 2005 at 12:31:35 pm
Thanks Russ. In this case it just made more sense for me to stay in the airport — that way I didn’t have to go through security again with my two suitcases, etc. Which is also why I didn’t push the airlines to pay for it, David. I had no intention of getting a hotel, so it didn’t matter.
Bink, I usually follow that rule… and Andrew, yeah, I could have taken the bus and then flown on a nonstop Southwest flight… but this combination of flights was the only combination that would have allowed me to go to all my classes yesterday and still (in theory) arrive in Connecticut last night. Of course, I ended up missing all my classes anyway (packing etc.), and I didn’t arrive in Connecticut last night… so, yeah, that worked out well. :)
September 21st, 2005 at 1:08:03 pm
Yeah, once I had a similar flight schedule coming home from Salt Lake City… the connecting flight to South Bend, IN was only 35 minutes after landing and was also the last flight out of O’Hare…
Luckily even though the plane landed a few minutes late, the flight to South Bend was delayed as well.
September 21st, 2005 at 1:18:03 pm
I feel your pain Brendan. I once was stuck in Salt Lake City airport all night with hundreds of other people, because Delta f*%#ed up. It was ridiculous. I since have done my best to never fly them again.
Also, Brendan, there are plenty of hotels close to O’Hare, including the Hilton that’s connected to the airport. Maybe you don’t mind, but for those of us with bad backs, sleeping in an airport isn’t that desireable. Glad you made it home ok.
September 21st, 2005 at 1:18:52 pm
FYI, that above David is an imposter David :-)
I was going to say that you should have called me, my brother and sister in law live in Chicago and could have easily put you up for the night.
September 21st, 2005 at 1:20:05 pm
i think to differentiate myself from all these random David’s who keep popping up i’m going to throw in the blog page under the url part
September 21st, 2005 at 1:25:54 pm
Brendan - United is one of the few airlines that I purposefully avoid, precisely because they have pulled such stunts with me twice too often …
Joe - help me with this, please !
Do I go for the simple “Yup, that’s the real D-list David - his creative spelling of “imposter” proves there’s no imposture” …
Or …
I’ve heard of a poster child - so I could understand a poster David - but what’s an “imposter David” ?
Or …
Acutally, isn’t he more of a “poster” (of comments) David rather than an “imposter” David ?
Decisions, decisions !
September 21st, 2005 at 2:33:05 pm
Ally,
You must love Benny Hill.
September 21st, 2005 at 3:52:34 pm
Who is Ally?