On July 27, I flew from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Chicago to catch a connecting flight to Lincoln, Nebraska. My flight to Lincoln was scheduled to depart about 1 p.m.
After arriving at my assigned gate, I learned the flight was delayed due to weather conditions and was moved to another gate. When I arrived at the next gate, the flight was reassigned again. At the third gate, the same thing happened. At the final gate, passengers were informed the flight had been canceled.
I understand that weather can disrupt air travel, and airlines cannot control the weather. What concerns me is how passengers were treated afterward.
With thousands of travelers stranded, hotel rooms quickly became difficult to find. I booked a hotel online, took an Uber there and upon arrival, learned the hotel had double-booked the room. I then reserved a second hotel, took another Uber and found they had no record of my reservation. Left with no other options, I returned to O’Hare Airport.
The terminal was filled with stranded travelers. Families with small children, elderly passengers and exhausted travelers were sleeping on floors, benches and any available space because no additional flights were departing that night.
When I approached a United Airlines counter seeking assistance, a male employee loudly exclaimed, “We’re closed!” and walked away. Realizing I had no choice but to spend the night in the airport, I remained near the counter so I could speak with staff when they arrived the next morning.
About 4:15 a.m. when United employees started showing up, a female employee immediately shouted at me, “You need to get back behind the line!” When I tried to explain that I was simply seeking information after a sleepless night, she responded, “Everyone here is.” I later requested to speak with a supervisor and was told one would come. A supervisor never appeared.
After returning home, I filed a formal complaint with United. I was assured someone would contact me. No call came. Instead, I received a text message apologizing for the experience, along with an offer for a $75 travel voucher.
I’m not frustrated with the weather that led to the flight cancellation. I’m exasperated with the lack of communication, assistance, professionalism and respect shown to passengers when things took a wrong turn. Travelers deserve better.
Bil Roby-Tubach, Lincoln, Nebraska
Emergency departments need better grip on children’s mental health
Our emergency rooms are telling us something alarming about children’s mental health. We should listen. A new statewide survey of Illinois emergency departments, led by Dr. Jennifer Hoffman of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, offers one of the clearest pictures yet of what happens (and what doesn’t happen) when a child arrives at an emergency department with a purported behavioral health crisis.
Emergency care coordinators across the state do their work with dedication and skill. But many survey respondents admittedly practice at hospitals with no dedicated pediatric inpatient unit, and only about half of those have a mental health professional on site. As summarized in the report, only 56% of such providers consistently deliver every recommended element of safety planning before a child goes home. Only 25% routinely schedule a follow-up mental health appointment before discharge. Even the most skilled emergency personnel are limited by their available resources.
Answers aren’t beyond reach or reason. The study highlights how many care teams have little-to-no sensible referrals or placements available, and that emergency staff are ill-equipped to meet certain needs that extend well beyond an immediate crisis. The result is prolonged boarding. Children wait in emergency departments, sometimes longer than three days, because there is nowhere else for them to go. We would not tolerate this for a child with an urgent physical injury. Why do we expect children with mental health conditions to simply endure?
An emergency room should be one door among many, not the only door. That means investing in the continuum around the hospital: mobile crisis teams, which research links to fewer repeat emergency department visits among youth; real-time visibility into psychiatric bed availability for quicker placements when appropriate; peer and family support that begins before a crisis and continues after discharge; and community settings where a young person can stabilize with dignity. It also means better support inside the ER while children wait and wait.
This is fixable. Coordination matters. So does dedicating real resources to it. Families, policymakers, health plans, hospitals, schools and community organizations all share responsibility for building a system where fewer children reach the ER in crisis. Above all, the study underscores that we can all do better for our children’s mental health.
Matt Davison, CEO, NAMI Chicago
Listen to and embrace Black youth
It’s time for an honest conversation about how we view young people in Chicago — particularly Black teenagers and young adults.
When Black youth are involved in “smash-and-grab” burglaries, shootings or so-called “teen takeovers” that turn violent, it’s front-page news. The result is a false and damaging perception that most of our young people are dangerous predators.
That’s why, even in one of America’s most progressive cities, some City Council members continue pushing earlier curfews, harsher penalties, incarceration and steep fines for young people and their parents. But how does jailing a struggling parent help a child? How do crushing fines on families already working 50 or 60 hours a week make neighborhoods safer?
Fortunately, Mayor Brandon Johnson has consistently pushed back against proposals rooted more in fear than in solutions.
The unfortunate reality is that many of the loudest voices demanding punishment over opportunity have little meaningful relationship with Black youth.
We do.
For decades, we have mentored, developed and invested in young people. At last month’s meeting of the Leaders Network, we turned the entire program over to our youth. They planned, hosted, prayed, performed and led thoughtful discussions. The adults did something we don’t do often enough — we listened.
What did we learn?
Our young people want what every generation has wanted: opportunities, meaningful relationships, new experiences and to be recognized for their potential rather than judged by the mistakes of a few.
No chairs were thrown. No windows were broken. No one was shot. No one was injured. Yet barely any media organizations covered the event.
That must change. Our young people deserve to see that being thoughtful, compassionate, articulate and solution-oriented is also newsworthy. They deserve stories that inspire hope instead of those that reinforce stereotypes.
Let us be clear: Violence must never be tolerated. We have spent years demanding accountability and offering reward money to help bring murderers to justice.
But law enforcement alone cannot bring lasting peace.
Peace requires opportunity, mentorship, investment and adults willing to believe in young people before demanding they believe in themselves.
The overwhelming majority of Chicago’s Black youth are students, workers, dreamers, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, caregivers and future leaders.
We challenge the media to broaden its lens.
We challenge elected officials to prioritize opportunity alongside accountability.
And we challenge all of Chicago to show our young people what they desperately need — and richly deserve: Love
The Rev. Ira Acree, lead pastor, Greater St. John Bible Church, Austin
David Cherry, president, The Leaders Network
Chicago can’t handle public-owned grocery store
Undoubtedly, “food deserts” in Chicago must be addressed, but the city should not rush to open publicly owned grocery stores as a recent op-ed by Erion Malasi suggested.
The Sun-Times has extensively reported on the city of Chicago’s mismanagement of the Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Housing Authority.
The city already struggles with transporting its citizens, educating its citizens and housing its citizens. Before setting out on any plan to feed its citizens, it should exhaust all other options before opening publicly owned grocery stores. .
Terry Takash, Western Springs
Thieves don’t care who owns the grocery store
City-owned grocery stores seem like a good idea. However, it may be wise to find out exactly why grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods are so apt to close down. Is it because low-income citizens buy fewer groceries? Are the stores poorly managed? What are the forces at work that make it unprofitable for stores to sell basic necessities that all humans must have?
How much does theft, from both customers and employees, contribute to stores losing money? If that is the biggest problem, it needs to be addressed, and in a definitive way. When I was a child we shopped at neighborhood grocery stores. We did not have access to the food directly, but gave a list to the proprietor or another employee and they got the food for us. We went to separate stores for meat and produce, which was given to us the same way. It would have been impossible to steal anything before supermarkets took over. Then shopping became much more efficient and enjoyable —and shoplifting became much more easy.
Even with supposedly more strict policing these days, a friend who works at a Downtown clothing store told me that people come in, stuff clothes into bags and quickly run out almost every day. The employees are told not to stop them, my friend says. The shoplifters have grown to feel entitled, and prices rise to cover the loss.
So, unless the elephant in the room is addressed, public-owned grocery stores will be a losing proposition for taxpayers.
Sharon Novickas, South Loop
Sox fans in their pope hats will be memorable
I can’t wait for Tuesday when the White Sox take the field in front of a crowd of energized fans, thousands of them wearing, of all things, Pope Leo XIV-themed hats. What will that look like? I can’t even imagine, but I think the pope, the team’s most famous fan, will be grinning from ear to ear. I’d love to get a photo of him taking it all in, his handsome and friendly face reflecting the joy and humor of a very creative day at the South Side baseball park.
Some may worry that this kind of demonstration might be offensive to Catholics or to the pope himself. I call it a wonderful, creative and joyful tribute to a very special White Sox fan who just happens to be leader of a major religion. I highly doubt that Pope Leo XIV would ever be offended by this humorous, yet respectful, tribute. The only thing that could outdo this display of pope hats is if Pope Leo XIV were sitting in the stands munching a hot dog smothered in mustard.
Kathleen Melia, Niles
Appallingly Hitleresque
Since Donald Trump loves to get awards, I would like to nominate him for one. I think he should get this year’s “Adolf Hitler Award.” The criteria is looking for a “leader” whose actions most embody those used by Hitler.
It’s an easy decision, given Trump’s attacks and suppression of the press; his creation of an armed squad that terrorizes and kills immigrants and U.S. citizens; his demonizing a group of people and using them as the excuse for the country’s problems; his use of the military to start unjust wars and try to take over countries that don’t want to be a part of the United States; his use of his position to increase his own wealth; his placing of his picture everywhere; his demand of blind loyalty from his minions who can’t think for themselves and whose only qualification is that they kiss his ring; his disdain for the rule of law; his spreading of hate with every time he opens his mouth; and lastly but not least, his inability to accept responsibility for his actions.
For all these reasons, and more, he truly is the living example of Hitler and modern fascism.
Peter Felitti, Lincoln Square