The third ring of hell

JFK Airport is the third ring of hell for me.

I went down late Saturday afternoon to catch my 9 pm flight to Dublin. The parking lot for Terminal Five was full and I was sent to the 'blue' lot instead of the 'yellow' lot and had to go into Terminal Four and ride the air train to Terminal Five to make my flight.

(One difference between JFK and Dublin airport--and the differences are legion!--is a baggage cart at JFK is $6 and they are free and available in Dublin.)

So, I paid for a cart and started down to Terminal 4 to catch the train.

(Just so you don't imagine there aren't moments of wonder and grace in the third ring of hell--as I came out of the wrong parking garage, heading to the terminal, who did I meet but Ted Dinsmore...a member of Emmanuel, Killingworth, one of the 3 churches I serve, and his daughter, Grace, picking up friends from India. How great is that? In the midst of turmoil, a moment of sanity and joy! Amazing!)

So, on the way back I had to do the same in reverse--get my luggage, pay for a cart, ride the train, find my car.

Our flight back was almost an hour early (airlines overestimate the time so their 'on time' stats are good) but by the time I got back, by train, to the blue lot, that hour of grace was lost.

I'll write more about Dublin's airport...almost heaven compared to JFK.

Oh, I didn't yet mention the Van Wyck 'Expressway'--which is anything but 'express'. Two rings of hell--the Van Wyck and JFK.