At the Airport

Why am I writing a blog from the Fort Myers, FL airport? Because my plane has been delayed a second time due to a mounting winter snow storm in Chicago. The first delay was 15 minutes. No big deal. The second delay was a tentative 3 hours. That is a big deal. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at O'Hare today due to shitty weather conditions. I am "postponed" from arriving at 1:25PM to sometime projected after 4:30PM. I hope it doesn't get any more delayed, or even cancelled!

While I am bidding my time I notice all the people on their laptops in the waiting area. I wonder if I could catch a signal here and take out my trusty laptop from it's holster (a backpack). As I log onto Windows I notice there is a public non secured signal making my notebook spring to life. I open my suitcase and take out the power cord and attachments. This might take a while and I don't know how long my notebooks battery life lasts.

As I am plugging my power pack into the airports juice there is a huge commotion at the American Airlines desk. Some lady is making a HUGE fuss to the poor ladies at the counter. As a food server I can relate to people acting out like little spoiled brats. I see it on a daily basis. But at the customer service desk at the airport, I just kind of sit back and watch in amusement. It is addicting like a bad reality television show.

The young lady at the counter asks the disturbed woman to stop yelling. She responds, "I am not yelling, I am RESPONDING to you!". Again the lady at the counter asks the woman to stop yelling. "I am not yelling, I am responding to you!!!!!!!!!" the crazy lady reiterates. The lady at the counter picked up the phone and said "Security.". The crazy woman started trying to get witnesses, "You saw her yelling at me, right?".

NO. You see, even if some other person DID witness the American Airlines customer service lady raise her voice, they would never get involved as this crazy disturbed persons witness. Being a witness means you have to talk to the airport security and file a report. Who would want to do that and risk missing the flight? Or for that matter, who would want to infuriate the customer service lady when we were all hoping and praying to catch a flight and go home? Not me!

As soon as the counter gal picked up the phone to call security the disturbed lady that caused the scene started to run. She dropped her boarding pass and papers during her egress. She glared at the ticket lady and ran back for them. She looked back at the counter gal in disgust and ran down the hallway. Literally one second later the first officer arrived at the scene. "The lady with the orange hat!", the gal at the counter shouted to the officer giving him the heads up. The lady disappeared into the women's restroom as another officer arrived at the scene. The first officer approached the lady at the counter and started talking to her. Apparently the disturbed lady didn't like the news that our plane had been delayed. In fact, when the captain of the plane made the announcement earlier, I remember the only one to ask the pilot a question was crazy lady. "Why is the plane delayed?, she asked the pilot. "Snowstorm in Chicago.", the pilot answered.

An hour later is when the lady snapped at the customer service gal. She demanded being put on another plane immediately. This lady didn't understand that a winter snowstorm effects ALL of the airlines. American airlines, United airlines, Southwest, Spirit. None of them can land when O'Hare cancels flights. What an idiot. And causing a scene like that in an airport is nothing short of moronic. After 9-11 there has been heightened security in the airports, in case you didn't know. Causing a scream and yelling at the counter gal is not going to settle your disputes or get this whacked out lady back to the Windy city any time soon. In fact, I heard the gal at the ticket counter say she the crazy lady was kicked off the plane---if the delay ends and the rest of us non screamers are allowed to board.

I think about the lady at the customer service booth at the airport. For a moment I am thinking about how much the two jobs actually are---food server and customer service rep at an airlines. Both take incredible amounts of shit and abuse from customers. While on my laptop I wrote on my FACEBOOK that I am stranded at the airport. Within minutes my cell phone is beeping with the news of a text message. One of my co-workers has volunteered to take my Thursday night shift if my flight is cancelled. Then within 15 minutes I have another kind offer to take my Thursday night shift. Boy, the generosity of my co-workers never ceases to amaze me.

The captain comes out of the plane and informs us on the loudspeaker that "Visibility is 1 mile in Chicago and the snow is starting to let up. We STILL anticipate leaving at 2:45 and arriving at 4:30 Chicago time.". Damn he is calm. I wish I could remain as calm the next time I have to deliver tragic news to one of my guests like we are out of the Sunday night special. Oh yeah!