I've decided my new nickname for O'Hare Airport in Chicago is the Great O'Hairy. Every time I pass through things seem to be a bit hairy, and there's no doubt it's big (that's the definition of "great" I choose to use). Back to the story.
I needed to do some reporting for my work during my layover in Chicago. Decent airports have places where people can use computers and connect to the internet. So I asked at the check-in desk. The lady looked around the room, searching for something. She finally fixated and pointed to an outlet on a blank wall.
"OK," I thought. I can do that. So I went over and sat on the floor. Tried to get on line. There were six unsecured networks. Four of them required a key even though they weren't secure. One of them allowed me to connect, but then no pages would load. There was one that was labeled a free Wi-Fi hot spot. So I connected, and it said I could get an hour of connection for $4.98. No thanks. So, I did some stuff that didn't require me to be on line.
In a few minutes this girl approached me with a sort of breezy, harried air about her. She said, "I think you have found the only electric outlet in the entire airport. Can I plug in my iPhone?" So I said, "Sure," and moved over so she could share the space.
Are free spirits just naturally drawn to each other? We ended up talking for nearly an hour. She finished college with a degree in the sciences, but she can't decide between arts and science, doesn't want to get tied down, has lived a year in Hawaii, but is coming home to try something else, doesn't want to do the same thing her whole life, was carrying a tenor ukulele. Get the picture?
It was like hearing a flashback of myself. We had a great talk, and I convinced her to play the uke for me. She did a couple of Hawaiian folk songs, and bemoaned the fact that she didn't manage to learn the words to more of them. We exchanged contact info. Who knows?....
Meanwhile, stay tuned for more ukulele news.
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5 comments:
Sweet!
O'Hare is crazy, isn't it? So big. So....busy. Anytime you are stranded or have a layover at Midway, let me know...I'm not too far from there.
Thanks for coming to my blog. I hope you will come back. I did check out all of your waterfall pages --and even showed my husband!!!! Thanks.
We do meet people in the craziest places, don't we??? It does seem like O'Hare would offer some free wi-fi service that works... Gads!!!!
Glad you met a little 'friend' though...Interesting.
Hugs,
Betsy
I've spent many an hour in various parts of O'Hare. At times the traveling was hairy.
I meet some of the nicest people that way. Like here at the Vodafone mobile store in Mumbai. Started talking to the nicest young man...handsome Indian film student, then ran into again the next day when we were both back at Vodafone. We exchanged numbers - he offered his help in case I needed anything while I'm here. Young people in India are so nice.
Meeting a spirit sympatico over a shared electrical outlet-- priceless!
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