By the time Thursday arrived, I was ready and quite anxious to get home. The weather in Philly wasn't cooperating, so that flight was cancelled. Luckily it was cancelled early enough that I hadn't headed to the airport yet. I booked the same flight for the next evening. This is where our story really begins.
Friday morning I got up, got ready, and packed early so I could spend time with a dear friend. I had heard on the news that Southwest was having issues and the storm in the northeast was causing problems as well. All morning I checked my flight. The 2 flights before me were delayed, but mine was still good to go when it was time to leave for the airport. I checked the flight along the way to the airport only to discover that mine was delayed as well and the 2 scheduled after mine were cancelled. Dressed in leggings, a shirt, a fleece jacket, and boots, I pulled my bags out of the trunk. It was bitterly cold, about 1 degree. There was a huge line of people waiting for curbside check, so I thought I'd ask why they were all out there. Turns out that Southwest's operations problem meant that the bag checking process was hours behind. I could wait inside in a 3.5 hour line, or outside for at least an hour and a half. Even with the slight delay of my flight, I would have to wait outside in order to make it to the gate on time. So I made my way to the back of the line, and hunkered down.
After about 20 minutes, I had no feeling in my hands or feet. My thighs were frozen, yet on fire. I checked the flight status via my phone after about 45 minutes to see that it had been delayed even further. At that point I was shivering so hard that even trying to hold my phone for that info was nearly impossible. If I left that line to go inside, I'd have to start over. There was no way I was leaving at that point. The pain was becoming intense in my toes so I just started praying to distract myself. I've never in my life been that cold. It had overtaken every part of my body. My mom called at one point, not knowing I was outside, and was alarmed at the tremor of my voice. To hold the phone to my head, exposing my hands to the wind was awful. I explained that I was outside and couldn't talk, but that I'd call when I could breathe without pain. Just talking to her made me want to cry, but I knew that that would be counterproductive and tears would just make things worse.
2 hours in, it was finally my turn to check my bags. I couldn't even pulled the ID out of my wallet because my hands weren't functioning. The Southwest guy was able to get it out just as another employee went past announcing that about 50 more flights had been cancelled. I asked the guy to tell me if he honestly thought my plane would get off the ground and he said it was worth a shot. At that point I could only think about getting inside, out of the wind.
I've never felt sweeter relief than stepping inside Midway that day. Walking was painful as my legs and toes thawed out. The pain I was experiencing harshly reminded me that there are people all over the world without homes, suffering every day. As I thought about how my body felt, I couldn't imagine making it longer than I did. That one horrible experience has brought me to my knees for my homeless brothers and sisters. Sure, I wasn't dressed properly to withstand that weather, but I'm not sure there's a proper way to be dressed for weather like that. Knowing that the high temp of the day tomorrow is supposed to be -15 with wind chills of -50 makes me sick for these people. Come Lord Jesus, come.
I'm assuming they saw how pitiful I looked as I approached the security check point so they sent me down the pre-check line which meant I wouldn't have to take off my coat or boots. Praise the Lord. What a simple, but wonderful gift. I was through security in no time and at my gate with hours to spare as they had just delayed the flight even longer (which meant I could have stood inside from the beginning). With all that time to spare, I went and got a table at Harry Carey's and slowly began to warm up as I ate lunch. I checked my flight periodically throughout lunch, just to stay on top of things. Right after I paid my bill checked the flight yet again... a mere 10 minutes later, only to find that it had been cancelled. Cancelled?! Are you kidding me?! After I stood outside and froze for 2 hours??
Livid, I called my mom as she was just leaving work, so she started heading towards the airport. I went down to baggage services to figure out what to do, but since so many flights had already been cancelled the line was VERY long. I waited in that line for about an hour and half. When it was finally my turn, the woman took my luggage tags and confirmed that they had not gone to Philly (Um, duh! Nothing was going to Philly!) and then told me that I should go sit and wait an hour or two for them to sort the bags and check them back in. At that point I was beyond annoyed and the thought of having to stand in another line on another day to check my bags again was almost too much. I asked if I could just leave them there and have them sent to Philly without me. She seemed a little relieved at that and said she could definitely do that. My mom picked me up, and we made it home. By the time I tried to get a flight for Saturday, they were all booked up. Of course I could fly stand by, but since no flights had gone to Philly in 2 days, there was NO way I was hanging at the airport with the hundreds of others trying to get on the same flight. Then on Saturday, the storm began.
So here I sit (on Sunday) in my sister's pants, my dad's shirt, my mom's socks, and my brother-in-law's sweatshirt while my clothes run through the wash. I have my computer, phone, tooth brush, and purse. My flight is supposed to take off at 9am tomorrow. As I type this, I just checked that flight status... which says "unavailable," even though the flights before and after it say "on time." I have no idea what's going on. My hope is dwindling and I'm more than ready to be home. I really am so thankful for my family and a place to stay. My own bed sounds like a dream right now. I miss my dog too. And normal life... that was fun.
I'd appreciate prayer. I have an important appointment I really need to keep on Tuesday. With tomorrow's wind blowing today's foot of snow around and the subzero temps, I don't know what's going to happen. All schools and many businesses will be closed because of the weather tomorrow. It's as though people from here are shocked that temps get so low. They forget they're from Chicago. Sissies!
Friday morning I got up, got ready, and packed early so I could spend time with a dear friend. I had heard on the news that Southwest was having issues and the storm in the northeast was causing problems as well. All morning I checked my flight. The 2 flights before me were delayed, but mine was still good to go when it was time to leave for the airport. I checked the flight along the way to the airport only to discover that mine was delayed as well and the 2 scheduled after mine were cancelled. Dressed in leggings, a shirt, a fleece jacket, and boots, I pulled my bags out of the trunk. It was bitterly cold, about 1 degree. There was a huge line of people waiting for curbside check, so I thought I'd ask why they were all out there. Turns out that Southwest's operations problem meant that the bag checking process was hours behind. I could wait inside in a 3.5 hour line, or outside for at least an hour and a half. Even with the slight delay of my flight, I would have to wait outside in order to make it to the gate on time. So I made my way to the back of the line, and hunkered down.
After about 20 minutes, I had no feeling in my hands or feet. My thighs were frozen, yet on fire. I checked the flight status via my phone after about 45 minutes to see that it had been delayed even further. At that point I was shivering so hard that even trying to hold my phone for that info was nearly impossible. If I left that line to go inside, I'd have to start over. There was no way I was leaving at that point. The pain was becoming intense in my toes so I just started praying to distract myself. I've never in my life been that cold. It had overtaken every part of my body. My mom called at one point, not knowing I was outside, and was alarmed at the tremor of my voice. To hold the phone to my head, exposing my hands to the wind was awful. I explained that I was outside and couldn't talk, but that I'd call when I could breathe without pain. Just talking to her made me want to cry, but I knew that that would be counterproductive and tears would just make things worse.
2 hours in, it was finally my turn to check my bags. I couldn't even pulled the ID out of my wallet because my hands weren't functioning. The Southwest guy was able to get it out just as another employee went past announcing that about 50 more flights had been cancelled. I asked the guy to tell me if he honestly thought my plane would get off the ground and he said it was worth a shot. At that point I could only think about getting inside, out of the wind.
I've never felt sweeter relief than stepping inside Midway that day. Walking was painful as my legs and toes thawed out. The pain I was experiencing harshly reminded me that there are people all over the world without homes, suffering every day. As I thought about how my body felt, I couldn't imagine making it longer than I did. That one horrible experience has brought me to my knees for my homeless brothers and sisters. Sure, I wasn't dressed properly to withstand that weather, but I'm not sure there's a proper way to be dressed for weather like that. Knowing that the high temp of the day tomorrow is supposed to be -15 with wind chills of -50 makes me sick for these people. Come Lord Jesus, come.
I'm assuming they saw how pitiful I looked as I approached the security check point so they sent me down the pre-check line which meant I wouldn't have to take off my coat or boots. Praise the Lord. What a simple, but wonderful gift. I was through security in no time and at my gate with hours to spare as they had just delayed the flight even longer (which meant I could have stood inside from the beginning). With all that time to spare, I went and got a table at Harry Carey's and slowly began to warm up as I ate lunch. I checked my flight periodically throughout lunch, just to stay on top of things. Right after I paid my bill checked the flight yet again... a mere 10 minutes later, only to find that it had been cancelled. Cancelled?! Are you kidding me?! After I stood outside and froze for 2 hours??
Livid, I called my mom as she was just leaving work, so she started heading towards the airport. I went down to baggage services to figure out what to do, but since so many flights had already been cancelled the line was VERY long. I waited in that line for about an hour and half. When it was finally my turn, the woman took my luggage tags and confirmed that they had not gone to Philly (Um, duh! Nothing was going to Philly!) and then told me that I should go sit and wait an hour or two for them to sort the bags and check them back in. At that point I was beyond annoyed and the thought of having to stand in another line on another day to check my bags again was almost too much. I asked if I could just leave them there and have them sent to Philly without me. She seemed a little relieved at that and said she could definitely do that. My mom picked me up, and we made it home. By the time I tried to get a flight for Saturday, they were all booked up. Of course I could fly stand by, but since no flights had gone to Philly in 2 days, there was NO way I was hanging at the airport with the hundreds of others trying to get on the same flight. Then on Saturday, the storm began.
So here I sit (on Sunday) in my sister's pants, my dad's shirt, my mom's socks, and my brother-in-law's sweatshirt while my clothes run through the wash. I have my computer, phone, tooth brush, and purse. My flight is supposed to take off at 9am tomorrow. As I type this, I just checked that flight status... which says "unavailable," even though the flights before and after it say "on time." I have no idea what's going on. My hope is dwindling and I'm more than ready to be home. I really am so thankful for my family and a place to stay. My own bed sounds like a dream right now. I miss my dog too. And normal life... that was fun.
I'd appreciate prayer. I have an important appointment I really need to keep on Tuesday. With tomorrow's wind blowing today's foot of snow around and the subzero temps, I don't know what's going to happen. All schools and many businesses will be closed because of the weather tomorrow. It's as though people from here are shocked that temps get so low. They forget they're from Chicago. Sissies!
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