[Magdalen] Not the day I was planning

[Roger Stokes]

On 03/05/2016 03:49, Lynn Ronkainen wrote:
> Roger - sounds like you were as 'cool as a cucumber' with this major 
> hiccup in your last day here.  Praying for a relaxing and safe travel 
> home. Will look forward to hearing from you once you decompress back home.

I knew what I had to do, find the nearest Consulate which I guessed 
would be Chicago.  I googled for their number and rang, as it said I 
should, and was patched through to the emergency help desk in London.  
They thought it would be shut Monday as it was a public holiday (in 
honour of workers) in much of the world but the USA is one of the places 
where that is not the case.  I confirmed with the lady on the phone that 
I had the right number and opening hours.  I was on Eastern but I knew 
Chicago is Central so I rang at 10 Eastern and got a recorded message so 
tried again a bit later and was able to speak with a local employee who 
then put me onto a consuiar officer authorised to give the necessary 
help.  She decided she could see me at noon, which I thought, and she 
later admitted she thought, was a push getting from Grand Rapids MI

On Sunday evening, when I discovered the loss, I had called the 
Sheriff's office to report it as I knew I needed to do and a Deputy came 
to the hotel to take the requisite details and he gabe me a card with 
the report number on it.  I already knew I would need a passport photo 
so had got that done at a CVS before ringing and before leaving the 
hotel I had printed off the requisite form. Construction on the 
Interstates, and the need to get fuel for the car, delayed me even 
before I hit central Chicago and nauhtily parked in Whole Foods customer 
parking garage nefore trying to find my way to the Consulate. Why is it 
when you're in a strange town the first people you ask for directions 
are also visitors?  Someone asked me for directions as well.

Anyway I found the right building on N Michigan and the person I was to 
see happened to come down into the lobby on her way out as I was talking 
to the man on duty in the lobby.  Sge told me to get a coffee, settle 
down and come back at 3.15 so I asked instructions on how to get back to 
Whole Foods, recovered the car and then managed to find a curbside spot 
on Ohio just East of Michigan.  Dunkin Donuts provided somewhere to get 
a coffee and something to eat, as well as a table to fill out the form.  
Still having time to kill I wandered about the area and then headed up 
Michigan past the Water Tower, which I recalled from when I visited 
Chicago in 2012, as far as Walton so I saw the Lake in the distance 
before heading back down to my appointment.

The notice on the wall where I was seen said that consular officials are 
expected to be professional.  I am sure she was, but with a strong 
motherly calming approach.  I was offered the opportunity to call 
someone in the UK as there was a phone which would offer me that free 
right beside me.  What I did make use of was the bathroom while she went 
and sorted out the paperwork. After rather longer than she had told me 
to expect she returned to give me back the evidence I had proferred and 
the all-important emergency passport, valid only for my trip back to the 
UK.  Collect the rental car from round the corner where I had parked and 
let GPS guide me back to where I gad to drop it off.  Needless to say it 
took rather longer than GPS had indicated which meant I had to note Hard 
Rock Cafe (which I also recalled from last time) as I waited in the 
traffic before I joined the express(?)ways out towards O'Hare.

Handover of the car was as efficient as ever and the shuttle was waiting 
to take me to the terminal.  The rental company's representative thanked 
me for using them and I said they had been very good when I had a dead 
battery, which I appreciated.  Check-in meant the first presentation of 
my emergency passport and very pleasant experience there.  The first TSA 
officer looked at it and said I had done well to get it so quickly, 
which I agree with - then there was the inevitable delay to get through 
security though it presented no problems.  Put shoes back on and gather 
everything else together then look at duty-free.  I bought some 
skin-care products and was surprised to be given them then and there, 
perhaps because there was no alcohol, rather than having to collect it 
at the gate.

Head for something to eat and drink, which is where I encounbteredt that 
salad I mentioned yesterday, and got into conversation with three 
diverse Americans of different political views but I think none is happy 
with the present state of US poltics.  Arriving in the gate area I hear 
of the delayed boarding so I whip out mu netbook and am surprised to 
find that I have a limited time of complimentary wifi access, which I 
used to send the update as I thought you should know the current 
situation.  Delay after push-back due to either congestion or the fact 
that a change in wind direction ahd caused a reversal in the direction 
of use of the runways and a reasonably pleasant trip back to London, 
apst from the short gap between dinner, served at about 11.30 CDT, and 
breakfast at 8 a.m. BST. Take off the 6 hours time difference and you 
get about 2 hours bewtween dinner and breakfast.

Because my passport was valid for only a sungle journey it was taken off 
me at Border Control then the inevitavle wait at Baggage Reclaim, 
shuttle back to where my car was parked, a smooth drive home and I was 
back about 2 hours after landing.  As for being cool as a cucumber I 
think the sermon Father Mike preached on Sunday may be something to do 
with it.  I knew it was a good sermon, as I said to him as we (Judy, 
Bill and I) left St Andrew's, Grand Rapids, but it probably helped me 
live calmly in the moment, doing what I knew I needed to do each step of 
the way.  Yes, I was worried sick Monday morning about whether I would 
be able to get back as scheduled but what I experienced from all I had 
to interact with was the quiet professionalism that helps people through 
crises.

Roger