Travel Woes - O'Hare Security

Spotting a vegan option on the outside, I scope the security line and see that I have plenty of time. A decent airport meal later I'm ready for flight and head into the security lane, only to reach the front and then turn a corner and be confronted with a massive queue. Joining the end of the line I watch as a man who I saw earlier with a pack of 6 sticks and both a San Jose Sharks and Chicago Hawks hockey bag waltzes past us chumps and then cuts in to use the same boarding pass lady that I'm waiting for! First-class fliers, hmmpf.

Finally passing her I turn another corner and am barked at to get against the wall. The man behind me doesn't take kindly to his line placement either but is forced to literally fall in line. We are barely edging along when I glance at my watch which prompts me to look at my boarding pass. "Should be okay.." I think before reading "Gate closed 20 minutes before flight" "Will not be okay!" 

I count 15 people between me and the full body scan and have 11 minutes before the gate closes. A minute passes and we don't move and then a squadron of three wheelchairs and another four in their entourage wheel right up to the front and start unloading their junk onto my conveyor. DarnDarnDarn! 

Relaying my predicament to the mother and son in front of me they shrug and allow me to jump them but suggest I may want to inform someone else. I agree but the people running security are still far away and don't seem like they are going to give a care. Sweating now with 7 minutes to close I'm imagining the nightmare of missing my flight, spending an extra night in Chicago (it was literally the only Swiss Airline flight on the board) and having to explain why I'm a full day light to my work assignment. With four minutes to go I'm still seventh in line and catch a guard's attention - he listens to my story, looks at the last of the wheelchairs being slowly ushered through and shrugs that there's not much he can do. He does tell me that I might be okay though as Swiss usually does a last call. Sure enough I'm still on the wrong side of the security gate when the lady comes through looking for Swiss passengers. I identify myself and again she looks at my now just a few people from the machine and she just tells me I'd better run to the gate once through.

Everything crawls. The three second body scan seems like three minutes but comes up clear and I'm not flagged for any additional checks, thank the higher powers! Snatching my bags from the conveyor I stuff my feet into shoes and hustle through a terminal I've never been in before, my belt trailing behind me as I can hear my name being "final call" paged over the loudspeaker along with one other straggler. The attendants see me coming and bark out my name as I approach pointing for me to continue hustling directly to the gate. Relief floods as she scans my ticket and waves me down the gangway.