A couple things I've learned: in spite of the fancy new renovation that has left O'Hare shinier and more sparkling than the last time I was here, airports all across the US are just a huge homogenized mass, and there seems to be a single company that has locked up all the concessions at every airport in the US. Seriously. It's the same books, the same bottled drinks, the same uniforms, the same "specialty" shops the same overpriced food everywhere. And, as I'm reminded every 5 minutes, it's illegal for transportation companies to solicit fares at the airport. Good to know in case I'm ever looking to supplement my income in Chicago. Also, Boingo WiFi sucks. It's great until you need to contact someone who only has a Facebook address, or you want to check your Yahoo! email, at which point it mysteriously refuses to work.
On the plus side, KORD Terminal 1 is mercifully free of the incessantly blaring CNN monitors.
I would also like to extend my congratulations to a few of my fellow passengers on United flight 535 out of Boston this morning for having toddlers that were so well-behaved that had I not seen them boarding I would not have even known they were there. It was nice to see amongst all the media attention to the "problems" of children on board aircraft, there are still some people out there that can handle their offspring.
