Just when you think....

The plane left Chicago a bit late because of a tardy flight attendant. We're pretty sure Eduardo wasn't the culprit because he was far too in love with his job...although somewhat detached and mechanical when demonstrating the flight safety routine...but who wouldn't be after performing the seatbelt unbuckling ritual after the billionth time...

The highlight of the first flight from Toledo to Chicago was the free cup of water. Sweet! The flight took less than a half hour in a zippy little jet that looked like a toy compared to the next machine we were to get on. The walk to the connecting flight was an adventure unto itself. O'Hare is massive! It's freaky to walk past 3 McDonald's in under 10 minutes.

Before we knew it we were on the next leg of the adventure. A 4 hour stint to LA, this time with a free movie and cup of apple juice. Sweet!! The movie Paper Town was a mediocre affair, but enjoyable nonetheless. Though it was dark outside, there was enough moonlight to catch glimpses of the Rockies and snow-covered peaks as we passed them. The endless glow of small town lights that covered the land was a rare sight for us to see. People are everywhere! The entire nation seems to be a Borg hive of human activity. Not too many places to run and hide to get away from it all.

Arriving over LA was a sight to behold. Talk about a massive city! A shame we don't have more of a chance to get out and explore. Perhaps in the next life. Or perhaps we've done it to death in a previous one. Either way, a 9 hour layover awaited us, so we prepared to make ourselves cozy.

An attendant mentioned we may be able to get hold of a couple cots for the night, as we rolled in about 2 am by our time, now 11 pm local time. We needed to go to customer service to get more info, which also serves as the flight rebooking and customer complaint venue. If you're ever in the airport looking for some angry drama or entertainment, this is the place to be, bar none! We waited until the line dwindled to just a few disgruntled couples before joining the fray. I was listening to the angry rant of the pair in front of me before I decided to ask what happened to them. Apparently a woman in front of them started a fight with the boarding attendant over luggage size and things became physical. Security came and they refused to admit the remaining stand by fliers in line which included them, being the next to board. They were somewhat irate to say the least. Eventually he asked me where I was from and why I was so laid back and chill, so I began telling him a story involving a deer, sleeping in fields, cancelled flights, and before I could finish, having received the attention of the remaining people in the room, the guy behind us said 'okay, you win', and I think everyone's level of general animosity towards their respective predicaments came down just a notch. But only a notch, and not for very long.  Seems a lot of humanity defines itself by its suffering and rage. These people seemed happier to be pissed off at circumstances that really weren't so bad. Perhaps another reminder from the universe to us to accept what is and roll with it instead of poisoning our bodies with the emotions of frustration and anger.

After a brief nap on the floor, a kindly attendant came by with some complimentary blankets. And before we knew it, another kindly soul came by with a dolly of Coleman military style cots. Sweet!!
Catching some Z's while a muscly-armed airport employee pushes an industrial sized vacuum repeatedly by your head is bizarrely soothing. And just when I think things can't get any better (sleeping in my hand-knitted wooly lama hat, on my crappy kiddie-sized airport made pillow, wrapped in a free American Airlines blankey), I reach down by the cot for my phone to check the time and, lo and behold, two free bottles of water!! Woohoo!!

It's the little things in life that count!

Plane from LA leaves here in 2 hours. Next post from under the Hawaiian sun!
Rock on peeps!

Mike