Read All About It

Funnel clouds, some lightning and a ton of rain brought chaos to Midway and O'Hare Airports in Chicago on Thursday night. Many people got stranded for the evening; I was fortunate enough to catch a delayed flight to Hartford. I got home late (1:00 a.m.), but I got home.

There is a lot of fallout from flight delays and cancellations. When it affects the whole airport you hear a collective sigh that is reminiscent of the home crowd's reaction to Larry Bird missing a free throw.

"Attention all travelers! Attention all travelers! There will be a 2 hour ground delay.."

"Aaaahh!"

"There will be a 2 hour ground delay caused by.."

"Aaaahh!"

"Dammit! Let's try this again people! There will be a 2 hour ground delay caused by high winds and heavy rain."

Some people get very angry, revert to childhood and throw a tirade.

"Rain and wind? You can't fly an 80,000 lb airplane through this shit? I have to get to New York for a very important meeting. Give me the keys I'll fly the damn thing myself."

"Sir, if you don't stop flopping around on the ground I will be forced to call Security."

Back to the analogy of the basketball game, most people finish the sigh and take a seat. Nothing like a bad shot to kill the rally.

But last night I found a silver lining. The 2 hour grounding at Midway proved to me we are a highly literate society and the Reading is Fundamental program successfully brained washed the majority of us.

I strolled down to Hudson News to grab a magazine. So did hundreds of others. When was the last time you stood in a line 20 deep to buy a copy of Sports Illustrated? Okay, so you did when the swimsuit issue came out, but how about People Magazine? No wait, I said reading is fundamental - let's make that Newsweek

At first I thought they were selling Powerball tickets in the airport. But it turned out to be the savvy travelers wiping the shelves of the basics - blueberry Nutri-Grain bar, bottle of water and a magazine. These folks are survivors.

As with everything in life, I followed the crowd.