I landed at Chicago O'Hare and cleared immigration before grabbing my bag and sprinting through the huge airport to my gate... only to find that my flight had been delayed five hours.
I bought some popcorn, found a comfortable spot to sit, and settled in for a wait. After the long journey from Bangkok, I was finally back in the US... so close, but still so far.
However, the delay did give me a really amazing experience. While waiting for my flight there was a bit of a hubbub, and an American Airlines employee ran over to the waiting passengers and told us that a pilot was going to be retiring. It was to be his last flight after 40+ years with AA, and to honor his career, they were going to be shooting water cannons over the plane as it taxied to the runway.
There's something about being delayed that brings people together. As we passengers stood at the window, we cheered on the pilot who we didn't even know. It was a fun celebration, even if it was just for a brief moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment