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On The Road Again2007-04-10On The Road AgainClarence and I are here in Chicago for another Window-Eyes training class. Traveling and meeting new people is really fun, and it is great to see how we can improve people's lives by teaching them the intricacies of Window-Eyes. But, just as Raul's move brought him some interesting times, so does traveling. For example, since I'm low vision, and have a very difficult, if not impossible, time navigating the gates at large airports, I typically have someone meet me at the plane. Today was a neat experience, as I flew to Chicago on a delayed flight (as if there is such a thing as an "on-time" flight to Chicago), and waited on the plane, then waited some more, then some more. And then I waited some more, and then some more. Oh yeah, then I waited some more. Finally, the pilot of the plane got fed up with waiting as well, and kindly walked me to my gate. Never mind that she was making another flight late because she was supposed to be piloting another plane. Fortunately, she was kind enough to make an entire aircraft late, so that she could help me out. This was obviously a very kind person. Once she got me to the gate, the gate agent abruptly told us that no one could meet me at that gate because I was supposed to be at a different gate. We certainly would not want to make the people who were supposed to do their job walk an extra 300 feet. After all, isn't it the pilot's job to help out people like me? <grin> Finally, I got to the correct gate. Then, I got to wait for another 20 minutes for the person to arrive. So, they were only about 45 minutes behind, but then again, so was the flight. <smile> Needless to say, we have some very interesting travel stories. And, of course, to kick off the start of a great trip, there is a winter weather advisory for tomorrow for one to three inches of snow. This is April, right? <grin> Comments, Pingbacks:
Comment from: Josh de Lioncourt [Visitor]
Seeing as I recently had some similar experiences in January flying through Detroit, (that time with an airport employee who was hell bent in taking me to my next gate in a wheelchair, though there's nothing wrong with my legs), your story here makes me nervous. I'll be passing through Chicago airport twice in May, on my way to visit my girlfriend. I specificly chose not to go through Detroit this time, hoping I might avoid these issues. Incidently, the most helpful, intelligent, and all around wonderful airport employees in the country, at least as far as my knowledge extends, are in Minniapolis at the MSP airport. That was by far the best experience I've ever had getting to a connecting flight.
Well, if you are going to fly through Midway, it probably wouldn't be a good time to tell you that Clarence nearly got killed on his way in because another airplane was below his plane as Clarence's plane was trying to land. The pilot had to make an emergency take off, just before crashing. But, that's a rare occurrence. Smile. Since the snow began today in Chicago, there have been 500 flights cancelled at O'Hare. Just a traveling tip - if you can ever avoid flying through Chicago or Atlanta; avoid it at all costs. I have never had a Chicago flight arrive or depart on time. I’ve actually had pretty good luck with Detroit, and some of us prefer Cincinnati. But, especially for blind people, Chicago and Atlanta are always a pain in the cat's petute. Grin.
Comment from: Josh de Lioncourt [Visitor]
Wow. I'm flying through O'Hare, not Midway, thank God. LOL. I flew through Detroit twice and had problems both times. Hopefully by the end of May, when I fly through Chicago, the snow will be long over. I'll avoid Atlanta if I can. Thanks for the tip! As far as planes being late...I'm not sure I've ever been on one that left on time from anywhere. LOL.
This is certainly an interesting topic and in my travels, mostly over the past 8 years, I have had the range of experiences although I never actually narrowed it down to any particular airports. I have not been in Chicago or Atlanta though. Pittsburgh international airport has generally been a good experience while San Francisco has tended to be a pain though in my experiences. I just returned from a week of travels a week ago today and it was my first travel with a guide dog. Everyone was nice and quite helpful aside from some foreign gate agents in San Francisco. Dogs capture the hearts and attention of people that love them although I am guessing it could have the polar opposite result as well in some cases.
Comment from: Raul Gallegos [Member]
One time when an assistant insisted that I use the wheel chair, I promptly placed mylaptop bag on the chair and we proceeded to walk in the air port. There he was, pushing a wheelchair with a laptop for its passenger, and me holding his arm. Finally he must have gotten tired of pushing the laptop and just took it off the chair, handing it back to me. We finished our trip and I made it to my gate. I do have lots of stories of travels to share, but would take a lot of room doing so. This adventure BTW was in Albuquerque air port. I agree that there is no such thing as a plane which leaves or arrives on time.
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