O.J. Simpson

Many of the younger readers of this blog will only remember OJ Simpson for his trial for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, and the amazing low-speed chase on the freeway (read: boring!). I am old enough to remember him in Hertz commercials running through an airport to catch a rental car.

I felt like that today...

A huge line of storms swept through Dallas a couple of hours before the first leg of my return flight to Germany. That caused the cancellation or delaying of many flights, including mine. We arrived in Chicago an hour late, giving me only 10 minutes to get to my overseas connecting flight... the last one of the evening.

So there I was, a Forty-Something guy carrying two overweight carry-ons - not that I would advocate overloading your luggage - running the length of two terminals. The scariest part came as I was still a number of gates away from where I needed to be. I heard, "Frankfurt Passenger Perrin, this is your last call. Report to your departure gate immediately."

I barely made it... out of breath and sore from the weight, distance and slalom course needed to avoid running over other travelers. I got on the plane and into my seat and the sixteen year old sitting next to me says, "You know, you're supposed to be at the airport at least two hours before your planned departure."