O’Hare International Airport has one of the worst international terminals ever when it comes to shopping and eating. I would have never noticed had it not been for the fact that I needed to purchase a set of noise reduction headphones. This whole thing started because I was misled by the giggling receptionist at Best Buy the night before:

RING, RING… someone picks up
Burst of hysterical laughing followed by indiscernible talking then:
Best Buy Hancock Center, Markita speaking…background chatter… giggling…You so stupid… uh, this is Markita.

Why would I listen to anything this silly fool had to say? If she said: “ yes we have Bose model style “blah blah”

then I should have known the translation would be:

I don’t even know if they are in stock or not, but I am surely not gonna put you on hold and make a call to the sales floor to find out!

So, I made the trip to Best Buy to no avail. Luckily, the sales assistants at the store were amazing. Both I and the knowledgeable sales-person figured that I’d find them at the airport and at the same price. Bonus! I discovered that there really is not a huge difference in the pricing of certain electronics at Best Buy versus O’Hare -go figure. Of course what I didn’t know was that Terminal 5 was the epitome of traveler’s shopping paltriness. Once you get past the four measly food-stands, the smallest duty free store in Christendom and the small bookstore that sells a million different varieties of cozy socks and pillows – you can forget any other reasonable connection with world class international airport shopping. You know all that disgusting retail you see in Terminals 1, 2 and 3? (which is obviously where I’ve flown out internationally prior to this) Forget it! It does not exist in Terminal 5 – International flights.

I am not the only person feels this way. I commented as much to the sales clerk as I purchased my trail mix (did I mention the absolute lack of food available past security?) and she could hardly contain her frustration and that of her customers:

Customers complain everyday. I just keep apologizing. There’s nothing else I can do.

You are in no man’s land once you pass Security in Terminal 5 – No Man’s Shopping Land. I did find a magnet to give to my new Latvian blogger friend but even it was sad, just plain sad.

As one fellow traveler said: No wonder Chicago lost the Olympics!!
Of course I don’t really agree with that statement but it was pretty darned funny!

The good news is that Terminal 5 was deserted, which bode well for my flight being empty. I mean, who flies to Stockholm on a Tuesday in February?

The gate for my flight - not much business on this flight to Stockholm.

Next up: the flight…

Tags: air flight, airport shopping, Best Buy, chicago, duty free, international travel, Latvia, Linkedin, Lynne Jordan, lynne jordan & the shivers, lynne jordan and the shivers, O'Hare International Airport, Olympics, ORD, riga, shopping, Stockholm
Filed under: In the Life of a Diva