Chicago O'Hare The Day Before

     By coincidence, the day before a 69-year-old  United Airlines passenger was dragged off a plane at Chicago O'Hare for refusing to give up his seat (see post from 4/13/2017),

...Tom and I were also United Airlines passengers with a  flight out of O'Hare,  

...our layover between Columbus and Los Angeles, where we were headed for a visit with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.
     Truth to tell, I'm glad we were flying United through Chicago the day before that horrific event rather than the day after;  I can imagine the residual shock, outrage, collective weltschmerz of airline passengers that next day - especially  the passengers populating the United terminal of Chicago O'Hare - would have sucked the flavor out of the trip.
     But on the day of our trip we were blissfully unaware of what was about to happen to one unfortunate fellow passenger as we strolled through the terminal during our three-hour layover.
     As for me, I like airports. They feel to me like little indoor cities, places out of place and time, far  from  the everyday routine, places of brief respite from the normal obligations and responsibilities that  pull at us all day long. 
     And just as some cities are bigger or nicer or more interesting than others, the same is true of airport terminals; and like the city on the outskirts of which it resides, Chicago O'Hare is to me one of the biggest, nicest, and most interesting airports of them all.
      And so last Saturday we spent a pleasant afternoon between flights exploring the neighborhood of the United Terminal:    

... the  cheery pop art ,

...the arty benches,

...the dinosaur,

...the electron microscope,

...the upscale shops and restaurants,

...an oyster bar,

...and stopping at a little food court we found tucked away around a corner that appeared to be the preferred chow-down spot of airport personnel and flight crew members,

...and where we grabbed some yummy Manchu Wok.

     After dinner we continued our walk and discovered a Children's Museum,

...a museum dedicated to World War II Navy pilot and hero "Butch" O'Hare,

...an urgent care,

...awesome bathrooms where the commodes were wrapped  in rotating seat covers that changed for each new patron,

..and even a pet rest room.

.....Walking on a little further we found an area  called The Rotunda,

...that offered even more amenities for travel-weary passengers..

     Such a pleasant place did Tom and I find the United Terminal of Chicago O'Hare Airport that under normal circumstances we  likely would have been only too glad to volunteer to be bumped for a few hours or even, if the price and perks were right and a hotel room thrown in, overnight. 
      And yet there are some times when even such an airline-ticket-voucher hound as  myself does not wish or absolutely cannot afford to relinquish one's seat for any price to accommodate an airline's bottom line; and for me, as for passenger Dr. David Dao the following evening, this was one of those times:
        Early the following afternoon I had a very important birthday party to get to. 
       Unlike Dr. Dao, I was able to be where I needed to be.

     To be continued...