the trials of travels....

hi. i am finally safe and back in cincinnati. yesterday was enough to get me gray hair. the day started good...despite the storms/rain i woke early and ran to/through millenium park/grant park/daley plaza and back along the lake front. the conference was fine. i asked about how to get to the airport. everyone said the same thing: cab to blue line to o'hare. i also checked how long people thought i needed, etc. everyone agreed i should leave between 4:45 and 5. i briefly perused oak street, which had been the only big shopping thing i didn't get to. prada, bcbg, etc. a very handsome man at my hotel got me a cab, and told the driver to take me to chicago and blueline. it went down hill from here.the cab got rearended in an intersection. it was pretty hard. my precious d&g sunglasses flew into the front seat! all i kept thinking was i wasn't going to make the plane. so the cab driver, naturally, starts swearing in both english and some random african language. i turn around to check out the other car. we go through the intersection as if we are going to pull off and stop to look at the car. the other driver does not stop. the cab guy asks me if i see the other car. i say he left. the cab guy gets mad and does a U turn on this big busy street, and says we are going to follow him. what happens next is like in slow motion, but we proceed to have a mini-high speed chase through the already packed streets of chicago following this blue pontiac grand am. i say to the driver...um, i need to get to the airport. he apparently doesn't care...and we proceed to drive more, and now i have absolutely no idea where we are, so i can't even get out and walk. the whole driving around part is about 10 minutes. by this time he is calling people on the phone to yell in the mystery language, and keeps telling me how mad he is. we find the other car, briefly, and he tries to hit them, and yells m-f at them about 10 times. i was just envisioning myself witnessing a shooting. the other guy gets away, and we stop to assess the damage to the car. by this time i'm very late. the lady at the conference had said the cab ride would be about 10 minutes. i've been in this death cab about 30 min now. he says he will find a train station to take me to. in the interim, more traffic has happened, and it is a standstill everywhere. i stay in the cab because i really don't know what else to do. the cab guy continues to yell and swear. i finally get to a station, god knows where, and he tries to make me pay for all that extra driving around. there was no getting a receipt. i was ready to choke him. so i walk down to the station, and the train worker lady says that the machine is only taking exact change now. what is with this non-debit card city???? people are trying to make change with other people, etc. i have a $1 and a $20. finally, a nice man gives me $1 for the $2 fare. the train arrives, and it is literally so full there isn't even standing room. i try 3 cars before i finally tell this girl she has to move, i HAVE to get on. there isn't enough room for me and the suitcase..and the train door closes on my foot. i end up sitting on the suitcase for 45 minutes to the damn airport. in the mean time, i've called people to have them check if my flight is on time. nothing is ever on time at o'hare, right? well, my flight is, and i'm obviously now not going to make a 7:10 flight when i'm not even at the airport at 6:30. i had online checked in, but it won't matter if i'm not there.when the train gets to the airport (6:50), i literally sprint, suit case and all through the train hallways. when i get to the delta counter the two guys are laughing and saying that i'm on the only flight at o'hare that is ontime and i won't make it. i finally convince them to try to let me on because i NEED to be on the plane. they say i will get there, but my bags won't. i point to the large security line and say i won't make it in time because of that. they show me a secret security line down a random hall that has no waiting. i get through the security, and of course i am at the absolute last gate. by this time they are calling final boarding for my flight. i take off my flip flops because my feet are bleeding from my last run...and i sprint barefoot through the airport...me, my giant purse, and that tote bag of lawyer books they gave us at the conference. i barely make it. i could not believe they let me on. i could not believe 5 people got on after me too. they were old, and did not run. if i knew they would hold the plane i would have stopped for food. it was a crazy turbulent flight, so they said they wouldn't give us drinks...despite the fact that i desperately needed one. somehow, miraculously, my luggage was there. i definitely got my work out for the day. my back is sore, and my feet are torn up. if you've ever in chicago, don't take a ride from cab # 5596.