'Hell Awaits' Drivers At the Airport No More

By Alicia Dorr in News on Jun 5, 2006 8:20PM

Every once in awhile something is introduced that makes us wonder thoughtfully: “Why the hell did it take so long for the ad wizards to come up with that one?”

That’s what we thought when we heard a couple days ago that O’Hare is finally going to have a place where people can park to wait for people they are picking up. We’ve always thought it was pretty illogical, not to mention reeeally annoying, that we had to drive around in circles endlessly while waiting for the poor sap who is trying their best just to make it out of the horrifying death maze often called an airport. Or the terrible guilt we felt when it was the other way around, and our flight was delayed!

Anywho, that’s all done with now. As of today, Midway and O’Hare have “cell-phone lots” that provide a place for drivers to wait for the person getting off the plane – the person that’s probably calling them. The whole thing is pretty simple; there are 150 spaces at O’Hare and 90 at Midway and your car will be ticketed and towed if you leave it. The lots are free, too, so, you know, bring a book or whatever. There is a limit of one hour standing time, but we figure if the plane is that delayed you’re probably pretty pissed anyway, so make some room for the next busy mama on the go-go.