{"id":301,"date":"2014-06-26T00:51:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T00:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?p=301"},"modified":"2014-08-12T19:59:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T19:59:36","slug":"cot-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2014\/06\/26\/cot-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Cot City"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>O&#8217;Hare Airport: The Ultimate Test of Patience, Part 2<\/h2>\n<p>(If you missed Part 1: The Scramble, read it <a title=\"The Scramble\" href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2014\/06\/25\/scramble\/\">here<\/a>!)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-303\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"O'Hare Airport Cot People\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It is a little disturbing when an airport has hundreds of cots in storage, and a well-oiled plan to set them up quickly.\u00a0 It sure makes a person think twice about scheduling travel through such an airport.\u00a0 At least I think I have learned my lesson.\u00a0 But I digress\u2026<\/p>\n<p>So the evening of the first day\u00a0we found ourselves in Cot City.\u00a0 Cots were set up in long rows up to three cots deep, at one end of each terminal. Each unoccupied cot had a little blanket and pillow sitting neatly on top.\u00a0 When we arrived about 1\/3 of the cots were taken, and we scoped out the best spots still available that would have minimum noise and light, hopefully allowing us some sleep.\u00a0 I was beginning to wonder if this is how homeless people on the street felt, minus the cot and blanket and pillow and nearby bathroom and credit card.\u00a0 No, we weren\u2019t Street People quite yet.\u00a0 We were Cot People.\u00a0 We made up our cots, putting our carry-ons behind us so no one would steal them in the<a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-4.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-304 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-4-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"o'hare airport cot people\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-4-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-4-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-4.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a> night.\u00a0 I headed to the bathroom with my toothbrush and a change of clothes.\u00a0 I washed my face in the sink and dried it with a paper towel, and headed back.\u00a0 I hunkered down in my cot, feeling very safe next to my strong husband, put in my earplugs, took a sleeping pill and went to sleep.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-4.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At 4am I was jolted awake by the security officer walking through the rows, hollering at everyone to wake up and move along.\u00a0 The airport was opening and they needed to clear away the cots.\u00a0 Each person was handed a standard issue \u201cwelcome to Chicago\u201d toiletry packet.\u00a0 (I\u2019m not kidding.\u00a0 They really have that written on the front.\u00a0 I refer you to my first comments.)\u00a0 We groaned our way off the cots (apparently sleep isn\u2019t so good in Cot City) and clutching our blankies and pillows (who knows how many nights we will be spending here?) we moved along.\u00a0 We shuffled to the nearest Starbucks, and from there to the next standby gate.\u00a0 We were getting that haunted look about us.\u00a0 Fellow travelers from our original flight were old friends, comrades in battle.\u00a0 We knew the ever-gracious counter agents&#8211;our allies on the front line&#8211;by first name.<\/p>\n<p>At 7:00 AM we \u201cstood by\u201d\u2014hence the word \u201cstandby\u201d&#8211; and watched as those lucky enough to have confirmed seats shuffled onto the plane for Savannah.\u00a0 (There was not room for even one standby passenger.) After that, something amazing happened:\u00a0 the plane took off.\u00a0 It actually took off.\u00a0 To Savannah.\u00a0 Same thing happened at 11am. Stand by. Shuffle. Take off. To Savannah. Our hope was renewed.<a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-305\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"o'hare airport cot people\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/image.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the 1:20 flight\u2014where we had actual tickets&#8211;we finally felt sure enough to abandon our blankies.\u00a0 For the second time\u2014about 24 hours after the first&#8211;we handed our tattered boarding passes to a gate agent and prepared to get on the plane for Savannah.\u00a0 An alarm sounded, and a red light flashed.\u00a0 The agent looked up, rescanned. More alarms. More red lights.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t have surprised me if he had held out his arms like Gandalf and declared \u201cyou shall not pass.\u201d\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He double-checked the manifest against our driver\u2019s licenses, and waved us through. \u00a0Whew.\u00a0 We hurried forward before he changed his mind.<\/p>\n<p>For the second time in 24 hours we were buckled into seats on a direct flight to Savannah.\u00a0 The flight attendant apologized for the five minute delay in leaving (are you kidding me?), and explained the safety instructions as we rolled toward the runway. Been there. Done that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I really believed we were going to get there until we took off.\u00a0 I clapped and cheered.\u00a0 When we landed I had a brief impulse to kiss the ground.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/DSC01059.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-302\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/DSC01059-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"beach at hilton head\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/DSC01059-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/DSC01059-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Click <a title=\"Giving Thanks\" href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2014\/06\/26\/giving-thanks\/\">here<\/a> to read O\u2019Hare Airport: The Ultimate Test of Patience Part Three &#8211; Giving Thanks!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>I know you&#8217;ve all\u00a0had a travel mishap that was simply unbelievable. Go ahead and share!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>By Lydia Floren<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>O&#8217;Hare Airport: The Ultimate Test of Patience, Part 2 (If you missed Part 1: The Scramble, read it here!) It is a little disturbing when an airport has hundreds of cots in storage, and a well-oiled plan to set them up quickly.\u00a0 It sure makes a person think twice about scheduling travel through such an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[37,82,63],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-patience","tag-stories","tag-waiting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>O&#039;Hare Airport: The Ultimate Test of Patience - Cot City - Belovedlove<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is a little disturbing when an airport has hundreds of cots in storage, and a well-oiled plan to set them up quickly. 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