United Airlines Redux

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I was en route to Kuwait on client business, and there I was at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, where I've been countless times since 1998.  The main carrier is Lufthansa, but this flight to Frankfurt was on United.  Catching my flight is characteristically a mad rush for me, but interestingly enough in the last few trips I've made it to the airport in plenty of time.

There was a mass of travelers in loose queues, at various stages of checking in for their flights.  My wait is more than a few minutes.  Some haul multiple massive suitcases, while mine, along with my shoulder bag, are carry-on.  Of course they need time to check in.  I see that United staff shift between checking travelers in directly and helping them check in on electronic kiosks meant for self-service.

If this were rush hour traffic, I'd say all of this was a parking lot: a lot of cars moving at snail's pace, often not moving at all. So I do a 180° turn, and walk to a self-service kiosk.  You see, these electronic devices are like touch screens: These are a process and a technology that warrant much more improvement.  About 50% of the time, I need to check with an airline staff anyway.

Sure enough, my self check-in produced three printouts, which was unusual, and one said to check with an agent.

So I am back in those loose queues, waiting among scattered travelers.  Finally, I reach an United staff, and he said I could go on to the gate.  I can talk to the agent there for a seat assignment.  

I am at the mouth of a security maze, and the security guard, whom I couldn't fully understand, pointed me back toward all that looseness and scattering.  Huh.  I thought she said that I had to check with an agent, before navigating the security maze.  But as I figured out in a little while, she had pointed me to a expedited security queue, by a far wall.  

That was a rare privilege to be on an expedited queue.  Except it didn't seem at all expedited.  The queue was long, and it was yet another wait to get through the usual undressing for the sake of security.  

By the time I cleared all that, I didn't have time to sit and work, and really I didn't have the patience or the inclination anymore to do so.  So I decided to head over to the food court, as I realized I missed lunch as I was finishing my work and preparing to fly out.

I was famished and tired.