This is a true story of one of the worst air travel experiences of my life. It is also the story of the moment I realized—definitively and without hyperbole—that the reality we all live in is not real at all, but rather an insidious mirage. Enjoy!
Oh, dear. Chicago is not nearly as Byzantine as O'hare might appear. Sure, it is a large city, but O'hare isn't typically representative of the fairly grid system that Chicago and NY has, north of Houston St: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_plan (Although Halsted St. was once told to me to be the only safe st. in Chicago, even if its grid is simplified on a map.)
Likely, this traveler you were following appeared confident he was going the right direction, until he wasn't, or disappeared after finding his path, which might not have been the gate you were seeking.
I had also forgotten how long ago Mayor Daley had placed X's on the other airport in Chicago:
Oh, dear. Chicago is not nearly as Byzantine as O'hare might appear. Sure, it is a large city, but O'hare isn't typically representative of the fairly grid system that Chicago and NY has, north of Houston St: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_plan (Although Halsted St. was once told to me to be the only safe st. in Chicago, even if its grid is simplified on a map.)
Likely, this traveler you were following appeared confident he was going the right direction, until he wasn't, or disappeared after finding his path, which might not have been the gate you were seeking.
I had also forgotten how long ago Mayor Daley had placed X's on the other airport in Chicago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field#Demolition_and_closure It was 2003. Somehow, I thought it was around 2012-13.