Third time’s a charm!
My last morning in America was today. I woke to a feeling that can only be described as “almost dead” as my headache, congestion and sore throat must have peaked at that moment. Once fully awake, I journeyed to the airport [accompanied by Mr. Nabeel Krafowts], arriving with little time to spare before my window of time for baggage check was closed. Luckily, the lines in international were short as hell, so I quickly made my way to the check-in machine.
This machine decided to wait nearly 10 minutes before informing me that it couldn’t find my itinerary and to try another machine further up in international.
Attempt #1: failed.
Nabeel & I quickly made our way to another check-in machine - my window of time was nearly closed. Of course, the machine I got to wasn’t reading my finger taps on the screen. Through lots of [what I can only imagine was] verbally proclaimed frustration, it was apparently made clear to the airline worker that I was in need of assistance. He suggested that I try using two fingers to press the elusive buttons on the screen. To my dismay, no difference was made. After 10-15 minutes of dicking around, he pointed me in the direction of another machine that had just opened.
Attempt #2: failed
Now, anyone who knows me well at all knows the direction in which this story is heading:
After 5 minutes on this last machine, added to the 10-15 on the previous and the 10 on the first, I had now spent 30 minutes just trying to check my baggage. And by the time this one got to the final process, I got a polite little piece of paper printed out telling me that I had missed the luggage check-in window. I looked at my phone for the time - I was one minute tardy.
Slightly perturbed, I went up to the desk to talk to the non-eticket employees and explained that I had just spent 30 minutes at the 5 minute check-in machines and they made me miss my luggage check-in time. Seeming quite annoyed, the woman behind the counter told me I was supposed to check my luggage 40 minutes prior to my departure time. I, once more, explained that I had attempted checking my luggage plenty of time before my 40 minutes were up, but after 30 minutes between the uncooperative machines I was late; it was the fault of faulty machines. She failed to grasp the concept that I didn’t choose to spend 30 minutes on broken machines and insisted that it wasn’t the airline’s fault that it took me so long to use them.
At this point I was offered two options:
1) leave the country without my luggage
2) purchase a new 1-way ticket to London for $940.
I offered her a third option:
Admitting fault and helping me out somehow instead of being ridiculous.
With the reluctant help of her supervisor, I was booked on a different flight to London.
Attempt #3: success
I’m sitting in terminal K16 @ O’Hare; my plane boards in 5 minutes.
I’m finally going to my other home.