Nov 17 2022
The quality of time
Waiting 18 hours at the Chicago Airport while flying to the USA by yourself for the first time. That is what Nienke van Drunen could withstand because of her quality of patience.
Last summer, while traveling from the Netherlands to Sioux City, Nienke had a 18 hour layover in Chicago. Family friends of hers allowed Nienke to use their Air Miles while booking her flight. While it were a lot of Air Miles, it was not enough to book both flights. Resulting in having to buy two separate tickets.
There would only be one non-expensive option so that Nienke would not miss her layover. Wait 20 hours in Chicago. Whereas she was lucky the waiting time changed to ‘just’ 18 hours, she would find out it would be terrible.
She had to wait in the cold lobby overnight since she could not check in her suitcases until the day of her flight. For 14 hours, Nienke could not get new food or sleep.
‘It was the first time I was awake for more than 45 hours’ Nienke concluded.
One response so far
Surviving a layover requires some patience. It’s also interesting she didn’t get angry and frustrated, which would be most people’s reaction. Balanced? Composed? Those are pretty close to patient, I guess.