…why people schedule their vacations with minimum allowance for the unforeseen. The number of people I have seen at the airport on their way to Florida for a lengthy cruise - and they booked the last flight possible to get them there in time. Those same people are the ones screaming at the gate agents when the flight is delayed or cancelled and they now missed their sailing time. Really, happens all the time.
I flew to Chicago on monday, had a night in a nice hotel and woke up the next morning to thick fog that lingered all morning. Nearly all flights in were cancelled or delayed, but the fog wasn’t thick enough to make me lose my way on the three blocks from the hotel to Union Station…
I don’t know how many Union Stations there are, but it’s more than one, and they are all pretty impressive buildings with vast halls, elegantly decorated - Chicago is no exception. Amtrak has a lounge for passengers on their sleeper trains, free snacks and coffee, comfy chairs, quieter rooms off the main one, and even padded couches in a separate room for people to take a nap.
The train was announced thirty minutes before departure, and we were ushered through the station to our train, greeted by the sleeping car attendant, train conductor and finally by the dining car attendant who came through to take individual reservations for dinner.
Two fifteen approached, and we rolled out of the station dead on time. So far, so good…