Survivor - Outwit, Outlast, Outplay

One cold weekend in November will forever be known as my "Survivor" weekend. My husband and I traveled to Chicago to visit. His company has sent us in an attempt to get "familiar" with the area they want to move the company headquarters. Chicago suburbs were as Chicago area is often this time of year, cold and dreary. My husband kept saying, "They want me to be delighted about this move. I am waiting to be delighted." The brief visit did not necessarily bring us joy but more questions and concerns.

Along with us on this trip were fellow co - workers from Sun Coke Energy. They became our tribe on this trip. You see, at the end of the trip we were truly a Survivor tribe. We had been dropped into a crazy and wild area of Chicago known as "Chicago O'Hare Airport". Our goal was to make it home to Knoxville.

Many challenges were placed in our way, but we were lucky. Our tribe remained unified and determined to win the prize. Unfortunately the prize was not a million dollars (probably the amount of money to keep me happy in Chicago), it was to get HOME. Our tribe was strong and varied. We had young, all the way down to 17 months, and more experienced travellers. Our wile, determination, and support of each other allowed us to overcome our obstacles. These obstacles included: no outlets to charge phones, airport food, exhaustion, cancelled flights, illness, and delayed flights. The tribe held together, it watched bags, talked, protected seats, and shared magazines. There was no back stabbing or secret deals.

In the end our tribe was able to leave the most annoying member of the tribe and return home. That member being of course the "Chicago O'Hare Airport" itself. You see, as the day and night continued on, it seemed as though the airport was not only the lost area our tribe had been placed, but also a stealth competitor determined to do it's best to thwart our progress. Eventually though, we boarded our plane and flew away. The tribe was able to vote and snuff out the lantern of "Chicago O'Hare" airport and return to Knoxville. The tribe had spoken.