My husband and I recently arrived at O’Hare International Airport well after midnight, having been delayed more than three hours due to air traffic and bad weather in Chicago.
But I was glad to be home.
For several weeks I had been telling people I met on my vacation what a wonderful city I live in and that they should come and see for themselves.
However, when we and about four other planes full of passengers entered the Terminal 3 baggage-claim area, I was ready to leave again.
I know the terminal is under construction.
First I saw a new board posting all the flights and their arrival times.
Our flight was not listed and no baggage-claim areas were posted on the board for any flights.
At each baggage-claim carousal was a beautiful new monitor–showing an airline advertisement on the unchanging screen.
At no time in the more than an hour I spent walking up and down the baggage-claim area did I hear an announcement or see a person who looked like he or she knew anything.
I finally found our suitcases, in two different baggage-claim areas, and we arrived home at 2 a.m. But about 100 people were still standing in a line waiting to report missing baggage.
What must a foreigner or a first-time visitor to our city think? I know what the residents were saying, but you would never allow those words to be put in print.
Is there anyone awake here?
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